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Bible Q

Jesus forgave sins, but only God can forgive sins? (Matthew 9:2-8,

This occurs in Matthew 9 1 Jesus got into a boat, crossed the sea, and came to his own city. 2 Some people brought him a paralyzed man on a stretcher. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Cheer up, friend! Your sins are forgiven.” 3 Then some of the experts in Moses’ Teachings thought, “He’s dishonoring […]

What is the gospel?

What is the gospel? The old English word “gospel”, literally “good news”, has its roots in the Old Testament where the Hebrew verb “basar” meant to carry good news: How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say […]

Since the Aramaic translation of the Greek New Testament has only one word for “rock” Kepha, how do we know that Jesus intended to contrast Petros and Petra in Matthew 16:18?

Since the Aramaic translation of the Greek New Testament has only one word for “rock” Kepha, how do we know that Jesus intended to contrast Petros and Petra in Matthew 16:18? This question relates to the Greek wordplay in Matthew 16:18 “I also say to you that you are Peter (Greek masculine noun, Petros, loose […]

What was the vinegar offered Jesus to drink on the cross?

The Greek word here is oxos (ὄξος), a tonic drink which may or may not have had sour wine as one of the ingredients. Oxos had a history as a tonic drink in classical Greek, and is mentioned by Aeschylus, Hippocrates, Aristophanes, Xenophon, and others. Hippocrates recommend adding honey to the tonic drink to sweeten it. In […]

What date is the Book of Job?

Dating the Old Testament books is a complex and often controversial matter. However for the Book of Job which is a work of literature, a wisdom book, rather than a historical record, the dating can be left to matters of language, such as vocabulary, and content. The following is from Job by Edward L. Greenstein. […]

“the LORD … from the LORD out of heaven.” Genesis 19:24

The Hebrew text of Genesis 19:24 contains et- (from) plus a duplication of YHWH which some have misread as meaning that there are two YHWH. Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the LORD out of heaven. (Genesis 19:24) The idea occurs in the Babylonian Talmud and was popularised for modern audiences by […]