Recently I was looking at a quadrans of Claudius (AD 41–54) and on this particular coin there is an image of a hand holding a pair of scales (see picture below). Since coins were one way for leaders to project a particular image, I was interested in the significance of the image. My initial two guesses were that it was an economical symbol or a judicial symbol. But, significant help is provided by paying attention to the Latin inscription containing three letters, PNR between the scale’s pans. The meaning of the letters is understood in at least two ways, Pondus Nummi Restitutum, meaning, “the weight of the coinage restored” or Ponderum Norma Restituta, meaning, “the standard of the weights restored.”[1] “This interesting obverse likely commemorates a weight improvement for certain denominations.”[2] So apparently the scales are about the assurance that the coins weigh as they should.
I see at least two illustrative uses of this coin in biblical teaching and preaching. It could be used to provide an image of what at least some handheld scales looked like in the first century for a passage like Revelation 6:5. Also, both the image and the inscription could be used illustrate biblical passages relating to dishonest scales (e.g., Ezek 45:10; Hos 12:7; Amos 8:5; Mic 6:11).
(1) http://www.forumancientcoins.com/catalog/zoompg.asp?param=16458q00.jpg&idd=63789&fld=http://www.forumancientcoins.com/Coins
(2) Ibid.
One of the things I learned on my recent experiences on archeological digs in the Holy Land was that not everything that is uncovered stays uncovered. Because archaeology is necessarily destructive (removing layers of civilization from the ground), one way to preserve a site for future study is to cover it. Aren Maier has a good discussion of the process here. Instead of plastic bottles, some use modern coins on top of the “geotech” tarpaulins.
By the way, for those who have opportunity to travel to the Holy Lands, you might want to consider taking a picture or two of ongoing digs at sites you visit (if they are there) because the next time around you might not be able to see it. I was just at Tell es-Safi/Gath this past summer and took a number of pictures. I haven't gone back through them but I probably took some of areas that are now covered over.
Scot McKnight has reported here of the home going of Grant Osbourne. I did not know Dr. Osbourne personally but benefited much from attending his sessions at academic conferences and his many books and articles. His book The Hermeneutical Spiral is a rite of passage for many seminarians.
The latest issue of Review of Biblical Literature is out. Reviews can be accessed by clicking the links below but unfortunately you must be a SBL member.
Lesley R. DiFransico, Washing Away Sin: An Analysis of the Metaphor in the Hebrew Bible and Its Influence
Reviewed by Ryan P. Bonfiglio
Anne Elvey, Keith Dyer, and Deborah Guess, eds., Ecological Aspects of War: Engagements with Biblical Texts
Reviewed by Margaret Daly-Denton
Norman K. Gottwald, Social Justice and the Hebrew Bible, Volume 2
Reviewed by Walter J. Houston
Kelly R. Iverson, ed., From Text to Performance: Narrative and Performance Criticisms in Dialogue and Debate
Reviewed by Danny Yencich
Yii-Jan Lin, The Erotic Life of Manuscripts: New Testament Textual Criticism and the Biological Sciences
Reviewed by S. Matthew Solomon
Raymond F. Person Jr. and Robert Rezetko, eds., Empirical Models Challenging Biblical Criticism
Reviewed by Jeffrey L. Morrow
Todd D. Still, ed., God and Israel: Providence and Purpose in Romans 9–11
Reviewed by Timothy Gombis
Oren Tal and Zeev Weiss, eds., Expressions of Cult in the Southern Levant in the Greco-Roman Period: Manifestations in Text and Material Culture
Reviewed by Collin Cornell
The free Logos Book for the Month for November is Aida Spencer's 2 Timothy and Titus commentary in the New Covenant Commentary series. Two other volumes in the same series are also on sale, Nijay Gupta's 1–2 Thessalonians for 99¢ and Michael Bird's Colossians and Philemon for $1.99. There is also a contest to win a 31 volume Church Dogmatics by Barth. For all these offers, go to the Logos' Free Book of Month page here.
This article is not really a new revelation for serious Bible students but it does a decent job laying out and illustrating the archaeological evidence supporting the idea.
I was recently listening a speaker talking about Acts 15 at an academic conference. He made the remark that the issue of table fellowship as a rationale for the Apostolic Decree (which many hold) seemed unlikely since there was not significant evidence that table fellowship was an issue for the early church.
But such a view is questionable. We have the issue of food sacrificed to idols in 1 Corinthians 8:1–11:1 and Romans raises the issue of kashrut in Romans 14. One might even point to the parenthetical statement in Mark 7:19 as an indication of the issue. It could be argued that all these texts were solely about personal convictions but this seems unlikely given the strong corporate emphasis of the New Testament where personal convictions have corporate implications. You also have the practice of “love feasts,” meals practiced in conjunction with the Lord’s Supper (see 1 Cor 11:17-34; Jude 12).
More importantly, one could turn to something closer to home by looking at the book of Acts itself. We have the paradigmatic statement in Acts 2:42 that mentions the “breaking of bread” that could be a reference to communal meals (or the Lord’s Supper). The pivotal Cornelius episode begins with a vision which uses the imagery of food (Acts 10:9-15). Following Cornelius’ conversion, Peter is asked to stay for several days. The fact that Peter stayed is seeming confirmed in 11:3. More importantly, Peter is criticized by the “circumcision party” (probably Jewish believers) who confront the apostle with, “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.” So, it seems likely that Acts 10–11 set the table as it were for the Jerusalem Council and while there may have been other issues, maybe even more substantial issues, table fellowship seems to be a legitimate concern.
This article has some suggestions here.
Roger Pearse does an excellent job examining pseudo-Ephraim and whether it teaches a pre-tribulational rapture here. Pearse's discussion involves points on languages, textual criticism, church history, and theology and is done in a thorough and balanced way. In many ways, this blog post is a model of how to have an academic discussion.
The latest volume of the Asbury Journal is available as afree PDF download.This issue focuses on Brent A. Strawn’s recent book, The Old Testament is Dying but there are other articles as well. You can access the entire journal here.
HT: Antony Billington
This is an interesting article concerning similarities between older Jewish and Christian commentaries.
I meant to post this earlier, but Claude Mariottini has an interesting set of posts here and here on the rejection of Saul.
About two weeks ago, I posted a video here of Yosef Garfinkel's recent presentation, "Searching for the Historical
King David: Excavating Kh. Qeiyafa and Kh. al-Ra'i," made at
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. You can find another version of the presentation given a few days later at the Lanier Theological Library. This one features a different Q&A.
I don't get many grade appeals from students. Maybe this is because I use grading rubrics, a practice that I adopted from some of my professors in seminary. This article suggests that using rubrics might be helpful if or when students make grade appeals. I actually think the main advantage of grading rubrics are that they provide some clarity and specificity to the expectations for a given assignment.
The latest issue of Review of Biblical Literature is out. Reviews can be accessed by clicking the links below but unfortunately you must be a SBL member.
A. Graeme Auld, Life in Kings: Reshaping the Royal Story in the Hebrew Bible
Reviewed by Tony Cartledge
David A. Bosworth, Infant Weeping in Akkadian, Hebrew, and Greek Literature
Reviewed by Kristine Garroway
Sherri Brown and Christopher W. Skinner, eds., Johannine Ethics: The Moral World of the Gospel and Epistles of John
Reviewed by Peter J. Judge
Stephen J. Chester, Reading Paul with the Reformers: Reconciling Old and New Perspectives
Reviewed by Jeffrey L. Cockrell
Dorothea Erbele-Küster, Body, Gender and Purity in Leviticus 12 and 15
Reviewed by Yitzhaq Feder
Philip F. Esler, God’s Court and Courtiers in the Book of the Watchers: Re-interpreting Heaven in 1 Enoch 1–36
Reviewed by David R. Jackson
Igal German, The Fall Reconsidered: A Literary Synthesis of the Primeval Sin Narratives against the Backdrop of the History of Exegesis
Reviewed by Shawna Dolansky
Matthias Henze, Mind the Gap: How the Jewish Writings between the Old and New Testament Help Us Understand Jesus
Reviewed by Cynthia R. Chapman
Robert Brian Lewis, Paul’s ‘Spirit of Adoption’ in Its Roman Imperial Context
Reviewed by James N. Hoke
Dennis R. MacDonald, Luke and Vergil: Imitations of Classical Greek Literature
Reviewed by Alexander P. Thompson
Heidi Marx-Wolf, Spiritual Taxonomies and Ritual Authority: Platonists, Priests, and Gnostics in the Third Century C.E. Reviewed by David Kneip
Eleni Pachoumi, The Concepts of the Divine in the Greek Magical Papyri
Reviewed by Pieter W. van der Horst
Douglas Petrovich, The World’s Oldest Alphabet: Hebrew as the Language of the Proto-consonantal Script
Reviewed by David A. Falk
R. Alan Streett, Caesar and the Sacrament: Baptism: A Rite of Resistance
Reviewed by Wes Howard-Brook
Some might be interested in his new commentary on Matthew in the latest addition to the Two Horizons Commentary Series.
Here is a helpful post from First Things on reading, or the meaning and value of a "bookish" life. And here are some writing tips from Stephen King.
The Logos blog has a nice interview here with Tom Schreiner on his recently revised Romans commentary.
This is a fairly basic post but some might find it helpful. All of the tips actually relate to sound interpretive method generally.
Today is the Feast of St. Luke, Evangelist Day in some Christian traditions. I thought the following image of Luke's icon posted on my Facebook page was interesting.
This Christianity Today article looks at the issue.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was destroyed 1009 years ago by order of Al-Hakim, the Caliph of Egypt, interestingly on this day in AD 1009. You can read a short article on the destruction here.
Here are eleven English words that used to mean something significantly different. This is one reason that translations are important and why new translations are needed.
This article makes a case for recovering the lost art of reading the biblical languages.
The Zondervan Blog has an extended excerpt on Psalm 121 from the recent commentary by Tucker and Grant here.
