Barth issues a sharp caution for those who frequently condemn the Reformed emphasis on the “primacy of the intellect” ( CD 1.1): “What man does when he uses this faculty, when he thinks and tries to understand, can in fact be indolence, hubris or both like any other human self-determination. But is not the same true of feeling, conscience, will, or anything else one might mention here? Are they not all self-determination, and no less so? Can they be less... Read more
I’ve wondered why the earliest and some of the greatest Arthurian legends were first written down by Frenchmen (Chretien de Troyes, eg). Turns out, the answer is pretty simple. As Richard Barber explains in his The Holy Grail: Imagination and Belief , “In the late eleventh century, the Normans overran the ancient border between Celt and Saxon lands, which had remained much the same for give centuries, and established lordships in south Wales; by Chretien’s day, they had ventured as... Read more
The Bible gives a lot of attention to sacred architecture. About 1/3 of the book of Exodus is a detailed and repetitive description of the dimensions and furnishings of the tabernacle. We have two descriptions of the temple of Solomon, in 1 Kings 6-8 and 2 Chronicles 1-7. The last quarter of Ezekiel is a lengthy description of a temple that was never built, and was probably never intended to be built. God could have told us all kinds of... Read more
Deuteronomy 12:10-12 Deuteronomy 12 forms an important part of the background for the narrative of the temple-building in 1 Kings. Here, the Lord promises to give rest to Israel, and in 1 Kings 5 Solomon tells Hiram that Israel now has rest from their enemies around them. In Deuteronomy 12, Moses says that the Lord will choose a place for ?His name to dwell,?Eand that is the same phrase used by Solomon to describe the purpose of His temple. Once... Read more
This from the department of corrections: Contrary to what I stated in the sermon outline posted earlier in the week, the word ?finish?E(KLH) is used seven times in these chapters, as Solomon completes each stage of the ?house.?E This is obscured by the NASB translation, for in one place a different word is translated as ?prepared?Ebut is marginally translated as ?finished?E(6:7; the Heb. is SHELEMAH, with an obvious pun on the king?s name), and in another a different word is... Read more
This from the department of corrections: Contrary to what I stated in the sermon outline posted earlier in the week, the word ?finish?E(KLH) is used seven times in these chapters, as Solomon completes each stage of the ?house.?E This is obscured by the NASB translation, for in one place a different word is translated as ?prepared?Ebut is marginally translated as ?finished?E(6:7; the Heb. is SHELEMAH, with an obvious pun on the king?s name), and in another a different word is... Read more
This translation is more experimental and iffy than the others. 1 Kings 6 is packed with architectural terms that are used only here, the translation of which is very doubtful. In these cases, I have considered possible etymologies that seemed appropriate to the architectural context. I have also translated all the anatomical terms as anatomical terms. I have translated heykal as “palace” in order to bring out analogies between Yahweh’s house and royal residences, and I have left Debir (the... Read more
On the walls of the temple were carved wooden gourds. The word for these gourds is used only in 1 Kings 6:18 and 7:24. A related word, however, is used for ?wild gourd?Ein 2 Ki 4:39, the story of Elisha healing the pot of stew. Using a “pot” as an image of a “contained” architectural space makes sense; Ezekiel describes the city of Jerusalem as a pot and the people of the city as the flesh in the pot (Ezek... Read more
The language of 1 Kings 6:1ff echoes in a number of respects the language of Genesis 2:21f. To wit: 1) The word for the “side chambers” that Solomon builds on the temple is the same as the word for “rib” in Gen 2:21. 2) After taking a rib, the Lord closes up the flesh “underneath” (Gen 2:21), using the same word found in 1 Ki 6:6 (the ‘wing’ underneath). 3) Yahweh “builds” Eve (Gen 1:22), using a verb used repeatedly... Read more
Beginning the House of Yahweh, 1 Kings 6 INTRODUCTION Solomon shows his wisdom by judging rightly in the case of the two prostitutes (1 Kings 3:15-28), in the organization of his kingdom (1 Kings 4:1-19), in his vast learning (1 Kings 4:29-34), and in his covenant with Hiram of Tyre (1 Kings 5:1-12). Now, he manifests his wisdom by building the house of Yahweh, who equips him with wisdom, understanding, and craftsmanship, as He equipped Bezalel and Oholiab (Exodus 31:1-11).... Read more
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