Koinonia

Ezra / Nehemiah commentary (ZIBBCOT) is up on Scribd

Each month we've been posting one full commentary from the brand new ZIBBCOT up on Scribd. This month we feature the commentary on Ezra / Nehemiah by Edwin M. Yamauchi. Ezra/Nehemiah - Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary

Thoughts for Thanksgiving: Vows and Thank Offerings in the ANE

"I am under vows to you, O God;
I will present my thank offerings to you.
For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling,
that I may walk before God
in the light of life."
- Psalm 56:12-13 (NIV)

Happy Thanksgiving from the Zondervan Academic team!

The following commentary on this passage is an excerpt of John Hilber's commentary on the Psalms, found in volume 5 of the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary: Old Testament.

Win a Free ZIBBCOT Volume to Review!

We are interested in sparking some conversations on the recently-released Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary: Old Testament, which John Walton has been blogging about every Friday for the past 10 months or so.

The problem is that it can get pretty pricey to send out $250 sets! So we came up with this idea.

We will send you a volume of your choice to review (you pick the volume):

Vol. 1 - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy

Vol. 2 - Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel

Vol. 3 - 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther

Vol. 4 - Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel

Vol. 5 - The Minor Prophets, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs

Your only obligation is to review this volume on your blog within the timeframe of October 26 – November 9.

Once your review is up, let us know, and we’ll send you one more volume. We would like it if you review this one as well, but you’re under no obligation.

Here’s how you can enter: simply submit a comment below with the name of either (1) an Egyptian Pharoah (or Pharaoh) or (2) an Ancient Near Eastern text. The first 30 unique answers will get one!

Note: we’ll email you to arrange shipment and volume details.

The Necromancer from Endor - John Walton and Phil Long

Saul’s visit to the so-called "witch" of Endor in 1 Samuel 28 provides one of the most mysterious and troubling accounts in the Old Testament. These are the sorts of narratives that we can expect information from the ancient world to illuminate. Phil Long sorts through the data in his commentary on Samuel in ZIBBCOT as he looks at the practitioners and their procedures.

The chief function of such practitioners was evidently to communicate with the spirit world, particularly with the dead. In the present instance, the Hebrew for "medium" reads literally "ghostwife" or perhaps "ghostmistress."¹ The "ghost" (Heb. ôb) was understood as the spirit of the dead, and the function of the medium was to call up the spirit through necromancy, in order that it might speak.

Solomon's Dream at Gibeon by John Walton and Fred Mabie

While people today experience dreams all the time, we don’t often give them the serious attention as in the ancient world, where they were considered to be communication from deity. Fred Mabie explains some of the aspects of this understanding, particularly as it relates to Solomon’s dream in 2 Chronicles 1 in his commentary in ZIBBCOT.

Solomon’s nocturnal experience at Gibeon shares certain commonalities with ancient Near Eastern dream accounts.¹ Ancient people—like modern people—desired to know the will of their G/god(s). Various methods were used to attempt to "connect" with the divine world, including extispicy (interpretation of the entrails of a sacrificed animal), libanomancy (interpretation of smoke rising from a censer), lecanomancy (interpretation of oil dropped into water), incantation (recitation of religious formula to gain a deity’s attention), divination (interpretation of natural phenomena such as astronomical observations as well as interpretation of dreams, animal behavior, abnormal births, and so forth).²

Jezebel Killing the Prophets

When we read a text like 1 Kings 18:4 about Jezebel killing the prophets, it is not surprising that what comes to mind is the religious persecution that our contemporary world knows so well. But John Monson offers us a different perspective from the ancient world in his 1 Kings commentary in ZIBBCOT.

The polytheism of the ancient world was an open system—there was always room for more gods, and if a god was deemed to be active and powerful in the region, it was logical to acknowledge that deity. This was not an issue of theological ideology; it was a matter of practical necessity. People worshiped gods by caring for their needs, such as providing food for them. As a result, the deity would not become angry and the attention he received brought benefits to the people.

Elijah's Contest

The familiar story in 1 Kings 18 offers clear evidence of Yahweh’s power over Baal, but much greater perspectives are available when we understand some of the ancient Near Eastern context in which the story operates. John Monson offers clarification in his commentary on 1 Kings in ZIBBCOT.

Fire is the clearest possible indicator of the divine presence, an impressive theophany. The irony of Yahweh’s victory is all the more potent when one considers the Canaanite religious tradition that Baal controlled lightning and rain. In one passage from Ugarit, Baal states, "I understand lightning, which not even the heavens know."¹

V. Phillips Long on Ancient Kings Chosen By Deity

The stories of Saul and David in the Bible make it clear that the Lord was the one who chose the king, and the people expected him to do that. This is not unique to Israel. The king was the earthly representative of deity and therefore was designated and put on the throne by the deity. Phil Long offers some of the perspectives from the ancient Near East on this matter in his commentary on the Books of Samuel in ZIBBCOT.¹

In brief, the king’s anointing expressed his vassal relationship to the Great King, from whom his authority was derived, under whose protection he stood, and to whom he was beholden. Not only in the Bible but generally in the ancient Near East, "royal authority was seen to have a heavenly origin and destiny; where authority was at issue, the gods were believed to be nearby."²

Hannah's Prayer (1 Sam. 2) by V. Phillips Long

Hannah’s prayer in response to having given birth to a son (1 Sam. 2:1-10) is full of concepts reflecting the realities and beliefs of the ancient world. Phil Long in his Samuel commentary in ZIBBCOT clarifies a few of these below that deal with views of deity and, especially views of kingship.

The Lord brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up (2:6). The conviction that the fate of human beings is in the hands of God (or the gods) runs deep in ancient Near Eastern cultures. In the Akkadian creation epic known as the Enuma Elish, we read the following lines: "Thou, Marduk, art the most honored of the great gods, Thy decree is unrivaled, thy word is Anu [i.e., it has the authority of the sky-god Anu]. From this day unchangeable shall be thy pronouncement. To raise or bring low—these shall be (in) thy hand."¹ From the Egyptian Instruction of Amenemope comes the following: "He [the deity] tears down and builds up every day, he makes a thousand poor as he wishes, and makes a thousand people overseers, when he is in his hour of life."²

Polygamy by V. Phillips Long

When we read the Bible it is easy for us to think that marriage was ordained from the beginning (Genesis 2) and that marriage ethics and customs have always been the same. But a close look at the Old Testament shows us that such is not the case. Marriages in the Old Testament were arranged by the family and served a very different purpose than marriages today. As a clan alliance rather than a relationship built around love, with the intention of producing the next generation rather than something like merging souls, we can imagine that some differences will exist. In ZIBBCOT, Phil Long seeks to clarify some of the marriage conventions of the biblical world: