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?
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 […]
What does the Bible say about people who have abused children physically?
Child abuse is a sin, so, like with all sins, when someone has abused a child they have earned death (Rom. 6:23). God loves children and hates people who cause bad things to happen to them (Mark 10:13-16; Mat. 18:1-9). Having said all that, like with all sins (except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit: Mark 3:29), […]
Why is God so violent?
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?
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 […]
Was Samson a black man, as depicted in the History Channel series called The Bible?
No, Samson wasn’t a black person (although he could have had a dark skin colour). Ethnically, he was a Jew (from the tribe of Dan [Judges 13:2]), so he would have looked more like the following picture than the actor — Nonso Anozie — who portrays him on the History Channel’s The Bible. (Image from M. […]
In Acts 26:32, why does it say that Paul would have gone free if he had not appealed to Caesar?
This is a reference to something that happened earlier in Acts, in the previous chapter. In Acts 25 Paul is on trial before Festus, who says to him, ‘“Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem and there be tried on these charges before me?” But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar’s tribunal, where […]
What Bible verses say there is hope for everyone?
Ecclesiastes 9:4-6 says: …he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, […]
If circumcision identified a male as part of God’s family, what identified a female as part of God’s family?
Being born into a Jewish family (Gen. 17:7) or converting to Judaism (Ruth 1:16) identified a female as Jewish. Added to this, a Jewish female (like a Jewish male) had to keep the Law (Ezek.11:20) and, if she had children, to circumcise her sons (Gen. 17:10).
Why does Jesus call himself “the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End” when these are names of God? (Rev 22:13)
In the first chapter of Revelation we read: “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” (Rev 1:8) Then in the 21st chapter we read: 5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all […]