![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/55\/2020\/10\/51soR93DzUL._SX322_BO1204203200_.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nBEN: Talk to us a bit about the value of comparing texts which use a similar or same word to describe a divine activity. Here I\u2019m thinking of the word translated \u2018overshadow\u2019 and you helpfully lay out various OT texts that talk about God\u2019s living presence descending on the tabernacle and elsewhere, and the same sort of language is what Luke uses to says Mary will be overshadowed by God\u2019s Spirit\u2026.. The same word can of course be used with differing nuances in different texts. Why in this case do you think it\u2019s both helpful and insightful to read Luke\u2019s use of the term in light of some of those OT examples? For instance, \u2018overshadowed by God\u2019s wings\u2019 might suggest protection rather than empowering presence whereas in the tabernacle story it seems to mean the latter and in fact Moses needs protection from the descending glory cloud. How does all this help us read Luke correctly?<\/p>\n
JACK: Words thrum with significance. Think of the word, magic. It conjures images of splashy Las Vegas show with lions and peroxide blonde men. Or it conjures images of childhood and the magic set with the little plastic devices. And it conjures a wonderful, memorable moment to be cherished: \u201cThat was pure magic.\u201d Or, in my case, I can say that it conjures my marriage to a remarkably kind and intelligent and beautiful woman. It\u2019s magic. Magical. Now those are separate meanings, but they are not divorced from one another. One meaning gives significance to the others. Because of visions of Las Vegas, I have a sense of how spectacular a more mundane moment can be. Because magic evokes childhood, the word suggests discovery and play, both aspects of a good marriage. These meanings overlap and, in overlapping, lend a significance to each other that individual scenarios do not have. The have a sort of capillary effect. Remember that? How liquid pushes up above the top in a narrow tube? Taken together, these meanings push beyond where any one of them would go. It\u2019s magic!<\/p>\n
In the same way, I would not want to slice and dice possible backgrounds in the Old Testament to New Testament words. Of course, some contexts make it possible to select one foreground, as opposed to others. But I am not sure the overshadowing of Mary requires that sort of selection. If I were forced to choose, I would certainly select the glory of God in the tabernacle. But I don\u2019t have to choose! It\u2019s magic!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BEN: Talk to us a bit about the value of comparing texts which use a similar or same word to describe a divine activity. Here I\u2019m thinking of the word translated \u2018overshadow\u2019 and you helpfully lay out various OT texts that talk about God\u2019s living presence descending on the tabernacle and elsewhere, and the same […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
An Unconventional God-- Part Ten<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"BEN: Talk to us a bit about the value of comparing texts which use a similar or same word to describe a divine activity. Here I\u2019m thinking of the word\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"An Unconventional God-- Part Ten\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"BEN: Talk to us a bit about the value of comparing texts which use a similar or same word to describe a divine activity. Here I\u2019m thinking of the word\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2020\/11\/20\/an-unconventional-god-part-ten\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Bible and Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-11-20T06:01:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-10-28T21:04:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/55\/2020\/10\/51soR93DzUL._SX322_BO1204203200_.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ben Witherington\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ben Witherington\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2020\/11\/20\/an-unconventional-god-part-ten\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2020\/11\/20\/an-unconventional-god-part-ten\/\",\"name\":\"An Unconventional God-- Part Ten\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-11-20T06:01:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-10-28T21:04:28+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/67da39aff728f9d015878d198839df4b\"},\"description\":\"BEN: Talk to us a bit about the value of comparing texts which use a similar or same word to describe a divine activity. Here I\u2019m thinking of the word\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2020\/11\/20\/an-unconventional-god-part-ten\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2020\/11\/20\/an-unconventional-god-part-ten\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2020\/11\/20\/an-unconventional-god-part-ten\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"An Unconventional God– Part Ten\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/\",\"name\":\"The Bible and Culture\",\"description\":\"A One-Stop Shop for All Things Biblical and Christian\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/67da39aff728f9d015878d198839df4b\",\"name\":\"Ben Witherington\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cf1998568f0b6ccbd63f56b44d47303?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cf1998568f0b6ccbd63f56b44d47303?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ben Witherington\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/author\/benw333\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"An Unconventional God-- Part Ten","description":"BEN: Talk to us a bit about the value of comparing texts which use a similar or same word to describe a divine activity. Here I\u2019m thinking of the word","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"An Unconventional God-- Part Ten","og_description":"BEN: Talk to us a bit about the value of comparing texts which use a similar or same word to describe a divine activity. Here I\u2019m thinking of the word","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2020\/11\/20\/an-unconventional-god-part-ten\/","og_site_name":"The Bible and Culture","article_published_time":"2020-11-20T06:01:54+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-10-28T21:04:28+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/55\/2020\/10\/51soR93DzUL._SX322_BO1204203200_.jpg"}],"author":"Ben Witherington","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ben Witherington","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2020\/11\/20\/an-unconventional-god-part-ten\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2020\/11\/20\/an-unconventional-god-part-ten\/","name":"An Unconventional God-- Part Ten","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-11-20T06:01:54+00:00","dateModified":"2020-10-28T21:04:28+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/67da39aff728f9d015878d198839df4b"},"description":"BEN: Talk to us a bit about the value of comparing texts which use a similar or same word to describe a divine activity. Here I\u2019m thinking of the word","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2020\/11\/20\/an-unconventional-god-part-ten\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2020\/11\/20\/an-unconventional-god-part-ten\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2020\/11\/20\/an-unconventional-god-part-ten\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"An Unconventional God– Part Ten"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/","name":"The Bible and Culture","description":"A One-Stop Shop for All Things Biblical and Christian","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/67da39aff728f9d015878d198839df4b","name":"Ben Witherington","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cf1998568f0b6ccbd63f56b44d47303?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cf1998568f0b6ccbd63f56b44d47303?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Ben Witherington"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/author\/benw333\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37850\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}