I thought I would pull together all the quotes from the comments in yesterday’s post. If you have others let me know.

1 Corinthians 2:2
For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

C.K. Barrett:

Of all the epistles, those to the Corinthians are most full of Christian paradox–of strength that is perfect in weakness (…); and the heart of the paradox is the preaching of the feeble and stupid message of the crucified Christ, which nevertheless proves to have a power and a wisdom no human eloquence possesses, since it is the power and wisdom of God himself.

F.F. Bruce:

Paul’s insistence on ‘knowing nothing’ among the Corinthians ‘except Jesus Christ and him crucified’ (1 Corinthians 2:2) had some regard to the intellectual climate of the city. As he came to know something of the Corinthians’ reverence for the current wisdom, he stressed that element in the gospel for which current wisdom could have no place: what more abject spectacle of folly and helplessness could be imagined than a crucified man? A crucified deliverer was to Greeks an absurd contradiction in terms, just as to Jews a crucified Messiah was a piece of scandalous blasphemy. But as Paul persisted in preaching Jesus as the crucified Saviour and sin-bearer, the unexpected happened: pagans, as well as Jews and God-fearers, believed the message and found their lives transformed by a new, liberating power, which broke the stranglehold of selfishness and vice and purified them from within. The message of Christ crucified had thus accomplished something which no body of Greek philosophic teaching could have done for them.

John Calvin:

In adding the word crucified, he does not mean that he preached nothing respecting Christ except the cross; but that, with all the abasement of the cross, he nevertheless preached Christ. It is as though he had said: ‘The ignominy of the cross will not prevent me from looking up to him from whom salvation comes, or make me ashamed to regard all my wisdom as comprehended in him — in him, I say, whom proud men despise and reject on account of the reproach of the cross.’ Hence the statement must be explained in this way: ‘No kind of knowledge was in my view of so much importance as to lead me to desire anything but Christ, crucified though he was.’

Gordon Fee:

The ‘for’ that begins this sentence is explanatory; Paul is offering reasons for the behavior outlined in v. 1. (…) ‘To know nothing’ does not mean that he left all other knowledge aside, but rather that he had the gospel, with its crucified Messiah, as his singular focus and passion while he was among them.

David Garland:

…he [Paul] was content to be identified as a know-nothing who preached foolishness: Jesus Christ crucified. But announcing the gospel was his sole focus, and the cross molded his entire message and his whole approach. It was not a new development arising from some previous failure (cf. Acts 17:22-31) but his standard procedure everywhere* (cf. 1 Thess. 2:1-10; Gal. 3:1). Jesus Christ can only be preached as the crucified one, and no one can preach Christ crucified to win personal renowon.

R.C. Sproul:

he [Paul] told the Corinthians he had determined to know nothing except Christ crucified. Clearly Paul was determined to know all kinds of things besides the person and work of Jesus. He wanted to teach the Corinthians about the deep things of the character and nature of God the Father. He planned to instruct them about the person and work of the Holy Spirit, about Christian ethics, and about many other things that go beyond the immediate scope of Christ’s work on the cross. So why, then, did he say this? The answer is obvious. Paul was saying that in all of his teaching, in all of his preaching, in all of his missionary activity, the central point of importance was the cross.

1 Corinthians

Here is a traditional translation:

1 Corinthians 2:2 NRSV
For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

I always took this to mean “Jesus Christ and the fact that he was crucified.” So his focus while he was with them would be Jesus Christ and his crucifixion, as does Tom (N.T.) Wright:

Wright: No: I decided to know nothing in my dealings with you except Jesus the Messiah, especially his crucifixion.

Or does he mean Jesus Christ—who was crucified? Who was crucified describing who he is as opposed to adding another subject of the crucifixion?

NLT: For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified.

Lattimore: for I did not judge that, among you, I know anything except only Jesus Christ, that is, Jesus Christ crucified.

Or something in-between or both?

REB: I resolved that while I was with you I would not claim to know anything but Jesus Christ—Christ nailed to the cross.

Paul for Everyone: 1 Corinthians by Tom Wright

This little book (256 pages long but small in dimensions) by Tom (also known as N.T.) Wright really is for everyone. Although it is “approachable and anecdotal in style”, even those who have read the bigger commentaries would benefit from this book.

Wright manages to combine personal anecdotes, exegesis, exposition and even a bit of Greek word study in an oblique way for every passage of 1 Corinthians. This is quite masterful.

He has written his own translation for the whole book of 1 Corinthians. Here is an example of 2:14-3:4:

Someone who is merely human doesn’t accept the things of God’s spirit. They are foolishness to such people, you see, and they can’t understand them because they need to be discerned spiritually. 15 But spiritual people discern everything, while nobody else can discern the truth about them! 16 For ‘Who has know the mind of the Lord, so as to instruct him?’ But we have the mind of the Messiah.

3:1 In my own case, my dear family, I couldn’t speak to you as spiritual people, but as people who were all too obviously merely human, little babies in the Messiah. 2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, because you weren’t able to take it — and you still can’t, even now! 3 You’re still determined to live in the old way! Yes, wherever there is jealousy and quarrelling, doesn’t that mean you’re living in the old way, behaving as any merely human being might do? 4 When someone says ‘I’m with Paul!’, and someone else says ‘I’m with Apollos!’ are you not mere humans?

That gives you an idea of how long each section of Scripture is. The exposition is typically about four pages.

His translation, like his exposition, is also a mixture of sorts being somewhat literal, dynamic and paraphrastic all in one where appropriate. One little annoyance is he says you see in almost every passage.

Another small annoyance is as he is wont to do, he let’s his political and social comments slip in now and then but it’s very infrequent and not very obvious.

This book is very well put together and although it’s very accessible for everyone, it’s deep and insightful enough to truly be for everyone.

There is a helpful glossary in the back of the book where he provides a paragraph description of select terms. I especially liked kingdom of God, kingdom of heaven.

Wright has a whole series of “For Everyone” books. Search for:
Tom Wright For Everyone
using the Amazon search box in the right sidebar here.

I think it would be great if there were Bible study guides to go along with these for group Bible study.

Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press (March 2004)
ISBN-10: 0664227910
ISBN-13: 978-0664227913

Buy it at:

• Amazon.com
• Westminster Bookstore
• Christianbook.com
• Barnes & Noble

The beginning of 1 Corinthians 3:18 (Stop deceiving yourselves) reminds me of this skit with Bob Newhart. Many of you have seen it but for those who haven’t, it may be worth it.

There are some things we need to be healed of, some things we need to be delivered from and some things we simply just need to stop doing. This is my kind of therapy for the latter.

I bet the Corinthians didn’t blame their parents for all their problems.

John 6:43
Jesus answered them, “Stop complaining among yourselves.”

Luke 6:37
“Stop judging others, and you will not be judged. Stop criticizing others, or it will all come back on you. If you forgive others, you will be forgiven.”

Luke 8:52
The house was filled with people weeping and wailing, but he said, “Stop the weeping! She isn’t dead; she is only asleep.”

1 Corinthians 1:10
Now, dear brothers and sisters, I appeal to you by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ to stop arguing among yourselves.

Ephesians 4:28
If you are a thief, stop stealing.

Colossians 3:8
But now you must also put away all the following: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and filthy language from your mouth.

2 Timothy 2:14
Remind everyone of these things, and command them in God’s name to stop fighting over words.

1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 3:18
Stop deceiving yourselves. If you think you are wise by this world’s standards, you need to become a fool to be truly wise. (NLT)

I memorized this to give myself a reminder not to think I’m all that and a cup of tea. However, God convicted me on a deeper level.

According to what’s written in 1 Corinthians 1:17-31 and all of the first four chapters, I can become like the Corinthians in that I can read my commentaries, use my interlinear etc. and think I’m wise because of my studiousness. I’m now on a higher plain because of this. However:

1 Corinthians 4:7
For what gives you the right to make such a judgment? What do you have that God hasn’t given you? And if everything you have is from God, why boast as though it were not a gift?

This all came about last night. I was feeling burnt out on the studying I was doing and was afraid that my spiritual zeal was waning. I was thinking, “What now God? Take a break? Direct my focus elsewhere for a while?” This break in the action allowed God to speak to me. He let me know that all this is to get to know Him better and focus on Christ and Him crucified, which I knew, but had to slow down to really ponder it.

And also the conviction of pride as described above. Although it can be painful, I love being convicted by the Holy Spirit because it is God speaking to me.

I hope to write more about general observations and questions on 1 Corinthians 1 and 2.

• Liddell and Scott’s Greek-English Lexicon (1940)¹ – no accents or breathing marks allowed
• Unicode Classical Greek Inputter¹ – click on Greek Letters, click on each letter and then you can paste this into Liddell and Scott, a word processor or whatever you need
• StudyLight Interlinear Study Bible
• The Resurgence Greek Project
• Online-Bibeln – Novum Testamentum Graece (NA 27)² – Buch-Book, Kapitel-Chapter, Vers
• Institute of Biblical Greek
• Guide to Greek Pronunciation Conventions – see links at bottom
• Recordings
• Interlinear Scripture Analyzer (ISA) – standalone software
• Basic Greek And Exegesis – Sample Chapter (PDF)³

HT:
1. Suzanne
2. Esteban
3. Bible Geek Gone Wild

Any others?

See the comments for more.

First-time ministry contacts can receive a free pocket-size copy of Dr. Sproul’s book, Chosen by God. This book is an introduction to the doctrine of predestination.

1 Corinthians

I had come up with some conclusions in reading and studying the 1 Corinthians 1:17-2:5 passage on my own, under the Holy Spirit of course (see the other blog if you want various boring details).

1. The second half of verse 17 really goes with the rest of the chapter even though there is a paragraph break in most translations
2. Verse 19 (For it is written, “I WILL DESTROY THE WISDOM OF THE WISE, AND THE CLEVERNESS OF THE CLEVER I WILL SET ASIDE.” Isaiah 29:14) is nothing new and Paul is stating a timeless truth (not that other truths aren’t timeless)
3. Verse 29 is the crux of the whole chapter
4. This passage (1 Corinthians 1:17-31) is key to the whole book and to Paul’s rhetoric in delivery and content of the gospel message

Most of these things may seem obvious. After this I read Fee’s commentary on 1 Corinthians on this passage and he mentions the things noted above. I like his commentaries because he often answers questions I have and he doesn’t just exegete each verse or paragraph, he gets to what’s really important about a passage, how it fits with the rest of the chapter, book, writer etc. and why.

1. He says that it’s unfortunate that there is a paragraph break in most English translations between verse 17 and 18 because the “for” at the beginning of verse 18 ties it to verse 17 as an explanation of the final clause in that verse.

2. Fee says that the wisdom of the crucifixion is the fulfillment of the Isaiah passage.

3. He says, “With this clause Paul expresses the ultimate purpose of the divine folly: ’so that no one may boast before him’”.

4:

This paragraph [1 Corinthians 1:18-25] is crucial not only to the present argument (1:10-4:21) but to the entire letter as well. Indeed, it is one of the truly great moments in the apostle Paul. Here he argues, with OT support, that what God had always intended and had foretold in the prophets, he has now accomplished through the crucifixion: He has brought an end to human self-sufficiency as it is evidenced through human wisdom and devices.

I’ve also read Barrett and will be rereading Garland (on this passage) which I read a few months ago. I’m not implying that Fee is always right and if my assertions agree with him they are automatically correct. But Fee’s commentary seems to speak better for lack of a better term. I always seem to like his style. It’s gratifying to see some of the work on this may be going in the right direction.

In studying 1 Corinthians in our group study, I decided to concentrate on this passage and I can’t say how valuable it’s been.

More posts to come.

One of the most recent methods is reader-response criticism. Reader-response criticism does not seek to understand the historical world behind the text (historical research, as this volume advocates). Nor does reader-response criticism seek to map the literary world of the text (i.e., paying close attention to the literary ‘architecture’ of a text, as this volume encourages). Rather, reader-response criticism is concerned with the world in front of the text. That is, for these practitioners the ‘author,’ ‘historical context,’ and idea of textual ‘intentionality’ are mere illusions. The only interaction worthy of investigation and reflection is the one that occurs between text and reader; and, in the end, the reader (and the reader alone) is responsible for the production of ‘meaning.’ Thus, the place of privilege once reserved for the author, the historical circumstances surrounding a text, and the intentionality locked within a text has now been surrendered to the reader.

–Gordon Fee, New Testament Exegesis (Appendix to the 3rd Edition)

One problem I’ve seen with this approach is that people over-interpret the text, especially if it is fairly plain. In wanting to come up with meaning, it’s easy to dream up a lot of theories of what the word, verse or passage could mean.

Regarding determining the tense, voice, and mood of verb forms Fee says:

Deciding that there is no special meaning to be found in some usages is also part of the exegetical process.

I think that sometimes in the exegetical process, we find that a text just means what it says. Or there is ambiguity. It may seem like a waste of time to do the research and investigation only to come back to where we started, but it can keep us from over-interpreting or lead us to determine that we don’t really know and keep us from coming up with theories about “what it means to me” or “what I feel like it’s saying.”

2 Timothy 2:15 KJV
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

John Piper points out that what Joseph’s brothers meant for evil, God meant for good. As opposed to—Joseph’s brothers meant it for evil but God used it for good. Maybe it’s semantics or splitting hairs or whatever but I think it’s interesting.

Genesis 50:20a ESV
As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good,

In addition, it looks like the NLT “corrected” this in the later revision:

NLT1 (1996): As far as I am concerned, God turned into good what you meant for evil.

NLTse: You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good.

HCSB: You planned evil against me; God planned it for good

1 Corinthians

Paul’s insistence on ‘knowing nothing’ among the Corinthians ‘except Jesus Christ and him crucified’ (1 Corinthians 2:2) had some regard to the intellectual climate of the city. As he came to know something of the Corinthians’ reverence for the current wisdom, he stressed that element in the gospel for which current wisdom could have no place: what more abject spectacle of folly and helplessness could be imagined than a crucified man? A crucified deliverer was to Greeks an absurd contradiction in terms, just as to Jews a crucified Messiah was a piece of scandalous blasphemy. But as Paul persisted in preaching Jesus as the crucified Saviour and sin-bearer, the unexpected happened: pagans, as well as Jews and God-fearers, believed the message and found their lives transformed by a new, liberating power, which broke the stranglehold of selfishness and vice and purified them from within. The message of Christ crucified had thus accomplished something which no body of Greek philosophic teaching could have done for them.

–F.F. Bruce, Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free

I would like to post more on this in the near future.

I’m posting this a little prematurely because people are starting to search for it.

I will be updating this post as long as I find new reviews. Let me know if I miss any.

Ancient Hebrew Poetry:

• Upcoming Reviews on the ESV and NLT Study Bibles
• The ESV and NLT Study Bibles on Psalm 2: A Comparison (Part 1)
• NLTSB and ESVSB on Psalm 2 (Part 2)

Biblia Hebraica

• Battle of the Study Bibles: NLT vs ESV, Part 1
• Battle of the Study Bibles: NLT vs ESV, Part 2
• Battle of the Study Bibles: NLT vs ESV, Part 3

Challies.com:

• The ESV Study Bible – A Review

Christian Monthly Standard:

• NLT Study Bible, ESV Study Bible, NIV Study Bible, and “Heavenly Places” (Ephesians 1:3)
• NLT Study Bible vs. ESV Study Bible- Introducing the Prophets
• NLT Study Bible, ESV Study Bible, NIV Study Bible and “Quirinius” (Luke 2:2)
• NLT Study Bible, ESV Study Bible, and Jesus’ Genealogy (Luke 3:23-38)
• NLT Study Bible, ESV Study Bible, and The Beatitudes (Luke 6:20-23)
• NLT Study Bible, ESV Study Bible, NIV Study Bible, and “Satan Falling Like Lightning” (Luke 10:18)
• NLT Study Bible, ESV Study Bible, and “Hanged On The Gallows” (Esther 2:23)

Discipulus Scripturae:

• ESV Study Bible Review

Iyov:

• The ESV Study Bible’s pseudo-scholarship on Judaism

Kowalker.com:

• 100 Pictures of my ESV Study Bible in Calfskin

Miscellanies:

• ESV Study Bible – Pictorial of the black TrueTone

New Epistles:

• ESV Study Bible and the ESV translation

New Leaven:

• The NLTSB Meets the ESVSB on The Book of Jonah
• The ESV SB Meets The NLT SB on Col 1:15 – interesting comments

New Testament Perspectives:

• ESV Study Bible: First Impressions

Reformation Theology:

• Regeneration in the ESV Study Bible
• ESV Study Bible: Covenant Vs. Dispensational

Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth:

• ESV Study Bible (Review)

Worship Matters:

• Ten Reasons Why I Appreciate the ESV Study Bible

Updated: 7/8/09

ESV Online Study Bible
ESV Online Study Bible: FAQs

at Amazon.com

I just got a new NLT Premium Slimline Reference Bible, Large Print TuTone leather. After looking at the NLT Sample Pages and Tyndale’s site I had a hard time deciding which one to buy. I wanted something in between each one.

The newer 2007 slimlines are listed as 9.75 pt. font size and the older ones at 11 at CBD. This newer 2007 version (although the copyright is 2004 on the inside) looks more like 11 and is a little larger than what I prefer. But the smaller slimline at 8 pt. would be a little too small. Here is a comparison of the LP Bible at the left and a printout of a PDF of the regular slimline:

This is not to scale so don’t use it as a gauge. It just shows the relative difference in size between the two. A ribbon is shown.

You can see that it has cross references at the end of paragraphs.

The cover is great. The leather is very soft and I love the colors. On my monitor the burgundy color looks more accurate in the first photo which shows the texture of the leather. I didn’t want to spend the time trying to correct the color on the second one.

The actual outside dimensions are 6 7/8″ x 9 1/2″.

The outside of the pages are gold and it has two ribbons. I’ve never had a Bible with two ribbons before. No bookmarks necessary.

The important thing is I like the translation better the more I read it and it will be my main reading Bible.

NLT Premium Slimline Reference Bible, Large Print at Amazon.com. The price has gone down twice in the last few weeks.

New Testament Exegesis: A Handbook for Students and Pastors by Gordon D. Fee

What is exegesis as defined by Fee?

“The term exegesis is used in this book in a consciously limited sense to refer to the historical investigation into the meaning of the biblical text. The presupposition lying behind this task is that the biblical books had ‘authors’ and ‘readers,’ and that the authors intended their readers to understand what they wrote (see, e.g., 1 Cor. 5:9-11; 1 John 2:1; see the Appendix). Exegesis therefore answers the question, What did the biblical author mean? It has to do both with what he said (the content itself) and why he said it at any given point (the literary context)–as much as that might be discovered, given our distance in time, language, and culture. Furthermore, exegesis is primarily concerned with intentionality: What did the author intend his original readers to understand?”

This book is for those very serious about exegesis. It’s very broad, but accessible for any student, pastor or anyone serious about studying the Bible.

Although the book was originally written 20 years ago, it has stood the test of time and has been revised in both the 2nd and current 3rd edition to keep it very up to date.

Is it necessary to know Greek to utilize the book?

This is addressed in the Preface to the first edition but also in the Introduction to the 3rd edition:

“A final word to those who use only the English Bible. First, you need to take heart that you can learn to do exegesis as well as anyone else. Knowing Greek gives one obvious advantages in several matters of detail. But the person without Greek who is willing to do a bit of extra work can enter into the full joys of this discipline. You must take seriously the need to learn the Greek alphabet; that will give you direct access to most of the better tools, especially when it comes to the study of words.”

For those who do know Greek the book goes in-depth into using Greek as part of exegesis.

By taking a look at the Amazon link you can “Search inside this book” and start with the Table of Contents to get a good overview of what’s covered.

Fee mentions a wide array of resources for research related to each step. Bibliographic material is mentioned within each chapter in addition to a whole chapter devoted to the material, based on category.

One could easily spend over $2000 on these books which may be a little overwhelming for some. For those without an extensive library of their own, the help of a public library or even at the minimum—the internet, a couple of good study Bibles and a couple of in-depth commentaries covering the passage you will be exegeting—one could get by and do most of the things outlined in the book.

Also overwhelming is the sheer number of steps required in the first chapter, many of which are explained in the second chapter. This is geared to a student who will be writing a paper on a passage of Scripture. The third chapter abbreviates the steps for pastors who have approximately ten hours a week to prepare a sermon.

I thought it would be helpful if the steps in chapter three were directly correlated to the steps in the first two chapters.

It’s important for everyone to carefully read the whole book. For English only readers, reading the portions related to Greek are still valuable. For students, the chapter for pastors is important for remembering application, prayer and reflection so that it doesn’t become only an academic exercise. Pastors will want to be very familiar with the first two chapters so they can tailor the steps to their needs with Fee’s guidance as outlined in the third chapter.

The Appendix, new to the third edition, explains what Reader-Response Criticism is, how popular this has become and how dangerous it is. I see it everywhere and this is not a good thing.

Personal notes:
As noted in the review, the number of steps involved can be overwhelming for a neophyte exegetor. As I was first reading the book I was wondering when the steps would finally come to an end. But once I got through all the steps and read the abbreviated portion for pastors, I could see how I can make it all work. I’m not using the pastor’s chapter as a way to do less work. (I would rather spend more time exegeting and not have to try to write a sermon. Now that’s hard work.) I went through the whole book and wrote down the steps that I can do—not knowing much Greek—along with page numbers and topics so that I can go through it one step at a time. Baby steps.

Another blogger bought this book for me which was on my Amazon Wish List. As one with a small library and small budget, I can’t say how much this is appreciated.

Paperback: 195 pages
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press; 3rd edition (March 2002)
ISBN-10: 0664223168
ISBN-13: 978-0664223168
Book Cover Design: Really cool

Buy it at:

• Amazon.com
• Westminster Bookstore
• Christianbook.com
• Barnes & Noble

Jude

Why refer to three different historical incidents like this that happened thousands of years earlier – Genesis 19 (Sodom), Genesis 3 (Cain), Numbers 22-24 (Balaam), Numbers 16 (Korah)? What’s the point?

…Jude assumes that the readers know these stories! Is that not amazing! This was the first century! No books in anyone’s homes. No Bibles available. No story tapes. Just oral instruction. And he assumed that they would know: What is “the way of Cain” and “the error of Balaam” and “the rebellion of Korah”? Do you know? Isn’t this astonishing! He expects them to know. It makes me think that our standards of Bible knowledge in the church today are too low.

The Value of Learning History: A Lesson from Jude by John Piper

I started a second blog called Scripture Zealot’s Other Blog. I’m using this instead of the ditzy twitter to keep track of what I’m doing as far as studying and other related things that don’t quite fit here. I purposely put it on the Wordpress site instead of creating a second blog on my own here so that I wouldn’t be tempted to endlessly tweak it.

I’m slowly adding items to the Scripture Zealot Wiki.

I have added another page on this blog of Puritan Prayers. I used to dislike written out prayers but these changed my mind. I go through one at least once a week and never get tired of them. I formatted them for printing and thought I would provide them here. (I haven’t bought the Valley of Vision book yet.)

In going through Greek for the Rest of Us I was kind of overwhelmed with all the grammar—both English and Greek—so I decided to take notes. This way I can study 10 pages of notes instead of paging through the book. They are provided in PDF format here. These notes are tailored to me and don’t include the alphabet, information on translations, phrasing, word studies, how to read a commentary and many of the grammar examples.

If you are considering going through the book, this shows you part of what is covered. However, keep in mind the other information not in the notes is just as valuable as the Greek.

It’s interesting to see how different translations handle the Greek word teleios usually translated as perfect. I was unaware of the first definition given below.

Thayer’s:

1. brought to its end, finished
2. wanting nothing necessary to completeness
3. perfect

It makes the traditional translations of 1 Corinthians 13:10 make more sense to me in addition to some of the more modern translations.

1 Corinthians 13:9-10 KJV
For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.

1 Corinthians 13:9-10 NIV
For we know in part and we prophesy in part,
10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.

1 Corinthians 13:9-10 TNIV
For we know in part and we prophesy in part,
10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.

1 Corinthians 13:9-10 NRSV
For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part;
10 but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end.

1 Corinthians 13:9-10 NLT1
Now we know only a little, and even the gift of prophecy reveals little!
10 But when the end comes, these special gifts will all disappear.

1 Corinthians 13:9-10 NLTse
Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture!
10 But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless.

‘The perfect’ refers to the state of affairs brought about by the parousia (Robertson and Plummer 19:14: 287, 299-300; Lietzmann 1949: 66, 189; Fee 1987: 646; Schrage 1999: 307-8).

–David E. Garland, 1 Corinthians

Since this seems to point to the end time I like how the NLTse handles it.

See the original post here.

“If you were to be taken out by one sin (or a couple, whatever) what would it be?” Apparently this can be past tense.

I would say mine would be general apathy towards the unsaved.

When I first became a believer, I told just about all of the non-Christians I knew and was flat out rejected by every single one of them. It shouldn’t have surprised me, but I couldn’t understand how anyone would reject this. I believed in God to some degree all my life. This was also a source of pride in some ways.

I let this shut me up for quite some time. I’m more able to talk to others about it now but I can’t say I have a strong desire to evangelize. I’m also not as prepared as I should be should the situation come up.

I was going to post something on the lighter side also, but I think that would take away from the seriousness of this subject and don’t want to tempt people to comment on the lighter side as a deflection.

1 Peter 3:13-15
Now, who will want to harm you if you are eager to do good?14 But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t worry or be afraid of their threats.15 Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. (NLT)

I’m a baby Greeker and most likely always will be. As mentioned before I’m thoroughly going through Greek for the Rest of Us.

I want to take advantage of Amazon’s Bill Me Later offer and I’m thinking about getting The Zondervan Greek and English Interlinear New Testament (NASB/NIV) by the Mounces. I’ve looked at the sample of Philippians and think it looks great but I don’t have experience with interlinears. I like having the Greek in its original word order and think it’s pretty brilliant how Mounce Sr. did a translation underneath it. What you do you think? This will set me back for my commentary budget but I would think it’s essential.

Do I need a dictionary in addition to this?

I’ve also been looking at Logos software. At $260 it’s way beyond my budget but it looks fantastic. Should I start saving for it? I’ve been an e-Sword user for quite a while and love it but Logos would be a few steps up. I’m not sure if it’s worth the money or not. (I’m an unfortunate Windows user so Accordance isn’t an option. And let’s not get into that you-know-what debate.)

I’ve been posting rather rapidly lately. I usually like to give people plenty of time to comment but I have a lot of questions lately.

Are the TNIV and NRSV being too interpretive here? The NLT leaves it as brothers only.

Philippians 4:21 TNIV
Greet all God’s people in Christ Jesus. The brothers and sisters who are with me send greetings.

Philippians 4:21 NRSV
Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The friends [37] who are with me greet you.
[37] Gk [brothers]

Philippians 4:21 NLT
Give my greetings to each of God’s holy people—all who belong to Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me send you their greetings.

REB uses colleagues which is probably the least interpretive gender inclusive way of saying it, at least compared to the TNIV. It’s very idiomatic but that’s the translation philosophy.

Paul is explicit in addressing people (every saint, God’s [holy] people), then mentions brothers. How do we know there may have been females with him?

In Colossians (another prison letter) he names names:

Colossians 4:10-14 NLT
Aristarchus, who is in prison with me, sends you his greetings, and so does Mark, Barnabas’s cousin. And as you were instructed before, make Mark welcome if he comes your way.  11  Jesus (the one we call Justus) also sends his greetings. These are the only Jewish Christians among my co-workers; they are working with me here for the Kingdom of God. And what a comfort they have been!  12  Epaphras, from your city, a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings. He always prays earnestly for you, asking God to make you strong and perfect, fully confident of the whole will of God.  13  I can assure you that he has agonized for you and also for the Christians in Laodicea and Hierapolis.  14  Dear Doctor Luke sends his greetings, and so does Demas.

And also at the end of Philemon.

This has inevitably been brought up before. I came across this as one of the exercises in Greek for the Rest of Us. If you know of other posts or articles let me know.