Dustin BurletGiven the relatively high cost of reference works and the limited amount of resources (time, funds, and energy) often available to individuals, it is essential to maximize the value of every research tool, whether for purchase or consultation. This...
Wendy WidderBecause all biblical documents were copied by hand for nearly three thousand years, it is not surprising that its manuscripts contain differences (variants). Textual criticism is the discipline that guides us in establishing what the authors of the...
What should we think when we find disagreement between English versions? Which translations are right? Why would translators change the biblical text? How can readers make good decisions about these discrepancies between versions? These questions...
Mark WardA former coworker of mine, now retired, a very sharp editor and faithful Bible reader, sends me occasional Bible questions. She sent one the other day about the alleged secret meaning of God’s name, YHWH.
Drew LongacreThe New Testament was originally written in Greek. This claim is not particularly controversial among biblical scholars, though some have argued that parts of the New Testament were originally written in Hebrew or Aramaic. Some popular writers and...
Kevin GrassoThis post will offer a fresh perspective on the grammar of a much-debated, and theologically loaded, verse in the Hebrew Bible: שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד Listen, Israel! YHWH is our God. YHWH is the one. My interpretation is a...
How many times have you heard this in a sermon? How many times have you preached this in a sermon? Faith in Greek is pistis, which means fidelity or trust. In Hebrew, the word usually translated as faith is emunah, which means steadfastness or...
J. David StarkSpending time in Scripture’s original languages is unquestionably important. But it’s rarely urgent unless you’re teaching or taking a class based on these languages. This means it’s all too easy to put it off to another day, to let things slip. And...
Paul OverlandThere is a huge problem in the way that biblical Hebrew is currently taught: it doesn’t stick. Polytetrafluoroethylene, or PTFE, is better known by its household name “Teflon.” It’s the coating on cookware that prevents food from...
Donald C. McIntyrePsalm Two’s familiar contents have made it a favorite among students, pastors, and scholars alike, as it has echoes of the Davidic covenant, eschatological hopes, and the promise of divine justice. The psalm is quoted or alluded to frequently in the...
Joshua JensenHere’s something you probably never thought to count: The ESV uses the word “but” 4,205 times. That’s nearly once for every 7 verses. That’s a lot. (The NASB has “but” slightly more times, the NIV slightly fewer. But they’re all in the same range.)...
Logos StaffThe Mishnah is a third-century Jewish collection that expands upon the legal material and language of the Old Testament and is considered to be “oral Torah.” Mishnah (the Hebrew term מִשְׁנָה means “study by repetition”) is the foundation of all...
Karen EngleWondering how you can prepare for seminary? Perhaps you are like I was . . . excited but nervous. I knew my classes would be rewarding but potentially challenging. I entered seminary as a blank slate. I had never studied Hebrew or Greek, nor did I...
Timothy H. Lim"The contribution, then, constitutes the addition of more pieces of the jigsaw puzzle of a previously published scroll, 8HevXIIgr."
Tavis Bohlinger"This [digital] edition will open up the research of the Handbook for easy access...It is a welcome development in the dissemination of the Handbook."
Guest Author"There are just enough gaps in the story to make it a dangerous one, as the interpreter is tempted to retell it with commentary on Jonah’s psychology."
"Every theology is contextual." - Federico Villanueva
"Reading the Bible in the original languages causes us to be more thoughtful and careful about the actual wording of the text." -- Robert Plummer
DidaktikosBiblical performance criticism is a methodology based on the assumption that much of the literature collected in the Bible represents oral performances that were at one time either told from memory or presented as prepared readings before audiences...
John D. BarryContext is king, as they say. But when it comes to studying the Bible, context is far and wide. A verse is contextualized in a passage; a passage in a biblical book; a biblical book in a particular place and time; and each time and place is...
"I am persuaded that the Psalms are not randomly placed, but are, in fact, intentionally arranged thematically and theologically in a deliberate shape and architecture, resulting in a kind of plot and storyline."
At long last, Logos Bible Software (Faithlife.com) has managed to integrate an outstanding resource, “Texte aus der Umwelt des Alten Testaments” (TUAT), into its electronic library. One meter of shelf space in printed books has become available on...
Christoph Heilig"Most NT scholars are not well-acquainted with cognitive linguistics. (I’m certainly not.) That’s why I think we should be all the more careful when we immerse ourselves too deep in associative meanings."
"My goal was to imbibe Scripture in its original form in every conceivable situation where reading, even briefly, might be possible."
Dr. Mark Ward has written a fantastic book recently addressing numerous issues around the use of the King James Version of the Bible in the church today. Mark’s work is thorough, gracious, and scholarly, and I welcomed the chance to sit down...
jonathanhomrighausen"One of the key elements for teaching any language is culture. . . . Yet in teaching biblical languages we sometimes forget this."
In 2017, David Pleins and I released a new resource designed for students of biblical Hebrew: Biblical Hebrew Vocabulary by Conceptual Categories: A Student’s Guide to Nouns in the Old Testament, a user-friendly book from Zondervan that...
In 2017, David Pleins and I released a new resource designed for students of Biblical Hebrew: Biblical Hebrew Vocabulary by Conceptual Categories: A Student’s Guide to Nouns in the Old Testament (Zondervan, 2017), a user-friendly book from Zondervan...
"At some point in his decades of teaching Biblical Hebrew, David Pleins realized there was a gap in his students’ education."
Here’s an opportunity to expand your library that you won’t want to miss: a superb set of OT resources from T&T Clark/Bloomsbury, The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies: 2016 (25 vols.), is currently on pre-order. But why...