Preaching Takeaways from the Latest in Social Science

 Interesting post here from Christianity Today.

Lamentations: What Kind of Grief?

I was recently listening to a podcast on teaching Lamentations where the point was being made that the book teaches about grieving generally. While there is much grief in Lamentations, is it really about grieving in the general sense? Aren't the poetic expressions about the devastating consequences of sin against God (historically of the devastation of Jerusalem in 586 BC by the Babylonians). While the podcast mentioned sin and judgment it was almost an aside. Lamentations is not really  designed primarily as a book of comfort for those who have experienced tragic and unimaginable losses but a warning that rejecting God has tragic and unimaginable consequences. Sin and judgment frame the grief so powerfully expressed in the text.We should preach and teach it accordingly.

Free Logos Book for October: Interpreting the Pentateuch

The free Logos Book for the Month for October is Interpreting the Pentateuch by Peter Vogt. You can also purchase Interpreting the Historical Books by David Howard, and A Commentary on 1-2 Chronicles by Eugene Merrill, Exodus by Duane Garrett, and What the Old Testament Authors Cared About edited by Jason DeRouchie for $1.99, $3.99, $5.99, and $7.99 respectively. While you are at it, you can register for a chance to win Kregel's 40 Questions Series Collection. For all these offers, go to the Logos' Free Book of Month page here.

Biblical Languages for Everyone

Ryan Martin lays out four benefits here of studying Hebrew and Greek for any serious student of the Bible. The benefits are spot on but I rarely find folks that are devoted enough to really move on from "they know enough to be dangerous" mode. If I could go back and speak to the younger version of myself, I would say that learning the languages is more of a journey than a destination.

Journal of Biblical Literature 139:3

Volume 139:3 of the Journal of Biblical Literature is now out. Here is a list of the articles with links to abstracts.

Contradictions, Culture Gaps, and Narrative Gaps in the Joseph Story
Richard C. Steiner

The Rhetoric of Condemnation in the Book of Job
Lance Hawley

“Woe Is Me!”: The Book of Jeremiah and the Language of Despair
Samuel Hildebrandt

The Animalistic Nebuchadnezzar and the Heroic Encounter: Daniel 4:30 Iconographically Revisited
Brian Charles DiPalma

Yedaniah’s Identity as Priest or Layperson and the Rhetoric of the Letter from the Judean Garrison of Elephantine to Bagavahya
Nathan Hays

Rethinking Luke 10: The Parable of the Good Samaritan Israelite
Matthew Chalmers

Imperial Divine Honors in Julio-Claudian Thessalonica and the Thessalonian Correspondence
D. Clint Burnett

Papias’s Prologue and the Probability of Parallels
Nevin Climenhaga

David's Unfortunate Census

David's unfortunate census is recorded in 2 Samuel 24:1-17 and 1 Chronicles 21:1-30. There are a number of interpretive challenges related to this event, but perhaps one of the stickiest is whether David's numbering was prompted by God (2 Sam 24:1) or Satan (1 Chr 21:1). Sinclair Ferguson attempts to address this conundrum here. While I tend to agree with the principles behind his proposed theological solution, I do wish he would have spent more time in the actual texts of 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles and looking first at the possible textual reasons behind the different approaches taken by the authors of the respective books.