Solomon and Pharaoh’s Daughter: A Pauline Interpretation

Last updated on: September 7, 2017 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

It seems that Solomon begins his reign with a breach of the law. Deuteronomy 7:3-4 forbids Israel from intermarrying with Gentiles, Canaanites in particular, and the usage in Deuteronomy 7 is very similar to that of 1 Kings 3:1. Solomon ?became son-in-law to Pharaoh,?Eand Deuteronomy 7 forbids the Israelites to ?become sons-in-law?Eto Canaanites (v. 3). Further, Solomon?s early connection with Egypt is ominous. By becoming Pharaoh?s ?son-in-law,?ESolomon effectively put himself in a subordinate position to the Egyptian king. And Egypt... Read more

Translation, 1 Kings 3

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 11:51 pm By Peter Leithart

Again, a wooden, unpolished, but perhaps helpful translation. And Shlomoh became son-in-law to Pharaoh king of Mizrayim. And he took the daughter of Pharaoh And caused her to enter (brought her) to the city of David Until his finishing to build His house And the house of Yahweh And the wall of Jerusalem around. Only the people (were) sacrificing on the high places For not built was the house to the name of Yahweh until those days. And Shlomoh loved... Read more

Dawkins and the Devil

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 10:52 pm By Peter Leithart

Stephen M. Barr offers a hilarious review of Richard Dawkins’s latest, A Devil’s Chaplain in the August/September issue of First Things . He chides Dawkins for getting his facts wrong and for pervasive, stubborn superficiality. He concludes that there are several Dawkinses, and that his book is a war of each against each. Dawkins the Humanist, Dawkins the Reasoner, and Dawkins the Darwinist each sit “on a different branch, sawing away at the branches on which the others sit. Dawkins... Read more

Two Cultures?

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 11:50 pm By Peter Leithart

CP Snow famously lamented the division of Western culture into separate worlds of Science and Humanities, to which Vladimir Nabokov (novelist and lepidopterist) replied: “I would have compared myself to a Colossus of Rhodes bestriding the gulf between the thermodynamics of Snow and the Lawrentonmania of Leavis, had that gulf not been a mere dimple of a ditch that a small frog could straddle.” Judith Hawley’s 2-volume compilation Literature and Science, 1660-1834 (reviewed be Peter D. Smith in the TLS... Read more

African Polyphony

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 10:45 pm By Peter Leithart

In a brief article in the August 6 TLS , Stephen Brown reflects on the influence of African music on the music of America and Europe. Until WWI, he writes, African music had little impact on the wider musical scene, but after the war “there was no popular music in the United State ?Ewith the possible exception of Jeannette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy ?Ethat did not bear witness to the transformation wrought by black musical culture.” He compares the African... Read more

Sermon Outline, August 29

Last updated on: September 7, 2017 at 12:01 am By Peter Leithart

Wisdom To Do Justice, 1 Kings 3:1-28 INTRODUCTION 1 Kings 3 is divided into three sections. The first is a brief notice about Solomon?s marriage to Pharaoh?s daughter, and the continuing practice of sacrifice on high places (vv. 1-3). The second, longer section is about Solomon?s request for wisdom (vv. 4-15), and this is followed by a demonstration of Solomon?s wisdom in the case of the two prostitutes (vv. 16-28). The central passage, verses 4-15, is organized as a chiasm:... Read more

Exhortation, August 22

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 11:40 pm By Peter Leithart

Welcome back to the students. As you are starting a new year of school, you have been and will be talked at, exhorted, and challenged many times. And this is going to be one of those times. To the NSA students, I urge you to remember what was said to you at orientation, and in Dr. Atwood?s and Mr. Schlect?s remarks at convocation. But I do want to add my two cents. And my two cents have to do with... Read more

Eucharistic Meditation, August 22

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 11:38 pm By Peter Leithart

1 Kings 2:7 Most of chapter 2 is concerned with ?establishing?ESolomon?s kingdom, and this can only be done by eliminating the enemies of the kingdom. Solomon must use the sword if he?s going to promote the peace and welfare of his kingdom, and he must use it wisely and firmly. But what is it that he?s protecting? What is the kingdom that he?s trying to establish? There?s only a brief glimpse of it in this passage, but the details of... Read more

Conditionality and Unconditionality in the Davidic Covenant

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 10:49 pm By Peter Leithart

Well, that’s quite a long title for a short post. In any case: The apparent problem is this. 2 Sam 7 seems to promise an eternal kingdom to David, unconditionally. To be sure, David’s son (and later sons) will suffer discipline when they sin, but Yahweh promises never to remove his love from the house of David as he did with Saul. 1 Ki 2, by contrast, seems to indicate that the continuance of the Davidic dynasty depends on the... Read more

Wedding Sermon, August 20

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 11:48 pm By Peter Leithart

You know what the Lord requires of you in your marriage. You heard Genesis 2 and Ephesians 5 just moments ago, and you have often heard them often before. You have listened repeatedly as the biblical teaching on marriage has been explained at length, and you have observed Christian families living together. You know that in your marriage you are called to humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance, and love. You are being knit together today in and by the Spirit, the... Read more