What English version of the Bible should be used with the Anchor Bible Dictionary, to find the right words to look up? Is it their own version?

I am compiling a table of biblical verses that depict women as leaders and teachers within the scriptures, and I’m seeking to ensure it is comprehensive. My current list includes figures such as Deborah, Priscilla, Phoebe, and Junia, among others. I am particularly interested in how the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) has been interpreted in relation to women’s roles, considering it as a universal call to discipleship that included women like Junia (Romans 16:7).

However, I am aware of the debate surrounding Paul’s statements in 1 Timothy 2:12 and 1 Corinthians 14:34-35, which appear to restrict women from teaching or having authority over men. Some suggest these were context-specific instructions, while others propose potential mistranslations or misunderstandings over time.

I am also interested in verses where Jesus directly supports women in ministry roles, as His actions often demonstrated a radical inclusion of women, contrary to the cultural norms of His time.

Could you provide insights on additional references I might be missing, or direct me to existing scholarship on this topic? Any guidance on interpreting these passages, especially in light of historical and cultural contexts, would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your time and assistance! See table so far below:

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https://preview.redd.it/5slpszy0v1vc1.png?width=792&format=png&auto=webp&s=929300a108ffee810bc0aa4895d5593d6d0f6aa8

I was raised by pre-mill pastor, recently I started watching doug Wilson videos on post millennialism and he tried to make a case on why Nero Is the Beast, I have some disagreement and I don't understand how Nero can be beast become the bible says

″It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome THEM, AND AUTHORITY OVER EVERY TRIBE AND PEOPLE AND TONGUE AND NATION was given to him. — Revelation 13:7

ALL WHO DWELL ON THE EARTH WILL WORSHIP HIM, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain. — Revelation 13:8″

And I saw the beast and the KINGS OF THE EARTH and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. — Revelation 19:19

Nero wasn't worshipped by everyone on earth, he didn't have authority over all the world like the beast would have and he didn't have all the Kings of the earth on his side

And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed. — Revelation 13:15

The beast could give life to image but Nero couldn't give life to any image

also how would the ending of the world be if Jesus already returned and killed the beast (Nero) and his false prophet (soldiers) 2000 years ago? bible also says the beast will be defeated by Jesus and thrown into lake of fire but we know that Nero commited Suicide, please clarify about this and teach me how the world will end according to bible, if the world is going to get better and better and better and all nations worship Jesus? What's next? Will Jesus appear all of a sudden and claim the world? Please answer, thank you

I was reading a commentary of exodus in preceptaustin.org, and they and many others have claimed that the Bible improved the rights and treatment of slaves at the time?

From their commentary "the Bible at every turn calls for s treatment of slaves that would have been more humane than any found in the culture at large. The very idea that a master could be punished in any way for killing a slave would have been scandalous at the time".

But I at least know that the Hammurabi code had a shorter period (3-4) for slaves compared to the 7 years for Hebrew slaves in the bible, but idk if the code had a punishment for the master in any situation.

Which between these 3 is considered more reliable according to scholars? Is there any study that shows the % in agreement between the DSS and the other 2? As far as I know, the DSS agree sometimes with the MT, sometimes with the LXX and sometimes with none of them. But, which of these 3 texts has the priority? And which is considered more corrupt?

I am a former academic looking to be (re)trained in a seminary that creates a balance between textual criticism and theology. I have been reading an Old Testament text by Trempur Longman and Bryan Dillard, and love how they expose the reader to a wealth of discourse from many angles, yet they also provide a few 'gold nuggets' that can serve to affirm faith in Christians motivated enough to expose themselves to such challenging information. The challenge I am facing when seeking seminary, is that several I have looked at tend to be averse to using extrabiblical and scholarly resources. Does anyone recommend a seminary that strikes a balance between the two? I live in Houston, so I might need to limit my search to schools that allow online or hybrid learning. I do not necessarily need another degree, just the knowledge and opportunity to learn scripture at the highest level with instructors who are unafraid to entertain any question. Thanks

Hello,

I am having trouble knowing when the Feast of Unleavened Bread actually starts and if the Passover is part of the Feast or a procedure of its own.

This is what I saw: Evening of 14th Day until Evening of 21st Day (Exodus 12 + Deut 16)

But i also saw this: Passover is 14th Day, Feast is 15th day and lasts for seven days (Lev 23 + Num 28 + Joshua 5)

The thing is, if the Feast began on the 15th wouldn't the Feast last until the 22nd and not the 21st?

Here are the days organized to help you maybe visualize (the number refers to the day of the month and the letter e stands for evening):

Day 1: 14e - 15e (Day of Passover)

Day 2: 15e - 16e (Beginning of Feast?)

Day 3: 16e - 17e

Day 4: 17e - 18e

Day 5: 18e - 19e

Day 6: 19e - 20e

Day 7: 20e - 21e

Day 8: 21e - 22e (would only exist if Feast Began on the 15th day?)

Is there something I am missing or inserting into the text? Thank you.

We see the trinity slowly develop and then codified in 325 at Nicea. However, the Holy Spirit appears to be overlooked until the later in fourth century when the creed is ratified in 381 to be included in the trinity concept of the godhead.

We see the spirit of the Lord, Holy Spirit, Spirit of God, all throughout the Old Testament clearly. Whereas the concept of God’s divine Son less clearly.

My question is if trinitarians argue how we see concepts of the trinity in the Old Testament, wouldn’t it make for sense that we would see an earlier adoption of the Holy Spirit into the God head (in essence, some sort of binitarianism) in 1st and second century Christians or even Jewish sects?

Looking for books to read on such topic, or ideas how to approach for self study.

I understand that parallelism is a key structural element in Hebrew poetic writing, but what role does it play in OT prophetic books? The prophets employ poetry. So, is it helpful to consider parallelism to understand the meaning? I searched a handful of hermeneutic books, but they didn’t touch on parallelism. Is it simply inferred, because the prophets use poetry? Thank you!

There's some clear aesthetic similarities between the two stories. They are both the first woman, they both disobey their Gods and their actions cause misery to spread throughout the world.

I know the first known mention of the Pandora story is by Hesiod c.700bc but could be older, and most believers of the documentary hypothesis say that Genesis 2 is the J source c.900bc. Is there a direct link between the two, is it a coincidence, or is there an older story elsewhere that influenced both of them?

Wikipedia and other places on the internet claim that Hebrews can't be written by Paul because Paul's writing style is different than the writing style used in Hebrews; however, I cannot find any evidencs for this claim. What evidence is there for this claim?

Thank you.

I’m delving into the historical significance of chariot warfare in the Levant, particularly during the Bronze Age, and its impact on the rise of the Israelite monarchy. The Hyksos’ introduction of chariots to Egypt and the emergence of the Maryannu warrior class are key points of interest, as they represent pivotal moments in the militarization of the region.

In the context of the Israelite kings, the Bible mentions an increase in chariot numbers, especially during the reign of Solomon. For instance, 1 Kings 10:26 notes that Solomon gathered 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses, while 1 Kings 10:28-29 details the import of horses and chariots from Egypt and their subsequent export to other regional powers.

With this in mind, I would appreciate your insights on the following questions:

Hyksos and Chariot Warfare: How did the Hyksos’ chariots influence the military strategies of the Levant? Did this lead to a significant shift in how regional powers, including the Israelites, engaged in warfare?

Maryannu Influence: Considering the Maryannu’s expertise in chariots, what role did they play in the evolution of chariot warfare, and how might this have affected the Israelite kings’ military policies?

Biblical Depiction of Chariots: How should we understand the biblical accounts of Solomon’s chariot acquisitions in light of the historical context? What impact did the increase in chariots have on the Israelites’ rise and establishment in the Levant, as suggested by passages like 1 Kings 10:26 and 1 Kings 10:28-29?

Archaeological Evidence: Is there archaeological evidence that supports the biblical narrative of the Israelite kings’ chariot accumulation? How does this evidence compare to what we know about the Hyksos and the Maryannu?

Your expertise and any academic references you could provide would be greatly appreciated as I explore the intersection of these historical and biblical narratives.

I haven't seen much discussion of this, but there's apparently an early use of the Greek transliteration of YHW(H) on a votive altar from a Hellenistic stratum at Gezer. Aside from this, the oldest use of it I know of is in 4Q120, in the 1st century BC, so if it's legit it seems significant. The altar was found in the excavation of R.A. Stewart Macalister between 1902-1909, who published a sketch and transcription in 1912 (he only provides photos of sides 1 and 3, but they're not great quality anyway). Later archaeologists found a lot of faults with Macalister's slapdash methodology, but they confirmed a Hellenistic layer dated to the early 2nd century, probably ended by its capture by Simon Maccabeus in 142 BC (1 Maccabees 13:43-48). I haven't been able to find out where this altar ended up.

So the provenance and date seem ok, although not precise due to Macalister. The main issue would be with the interpretation of the inscriptions. Macalister mentions one other scholar who interpreted the inscriptions slightly differently to himself, but they agreed that it mentions Herakles and Iaō (Ιαω). Although Macalister thinks sides 2 to 4 were inscribed later than 1.

I haven't found any more scholarship about this, does anybody know more about it?

Macalister's transcription of the Greek:

Side 1

ηρακλεους

νεικη

ευνηλου

ποη[σ]ις

Macalister's translation:

the victory of Herakles: the work of Eunēlos

Side 2

ευνηλουιω

νος

ιαω

ινασιου

εορτη

**κιθυ

Macalister's translation:

Eunēlos (son) of Ion, to Iaō. Inasios(?). Eortē (daughter) of --kithos

Side 3

αταφ[ηχ?]ει

το*νικα*

ον[οιχ]*χε[ρω?]

χο[ρτ?]*νας

Macalister conjectures that these are magical formulae.

Side 4

δορκας παις

ταται

Macalister's translation of the first line:

the child Dorkas

(Macalister interprets ταται as the interjection tataé, only attested in Latin)

The other scholar I mentioned is Hermann Thiersch, who restores side 2 as:

Εὐνήλου Ἴωνος Ἰάω Ινασίου ἑορτῇ διθυρ[άμβῳ]

Eunelos (son) of Ion at the feast of Iaō Inasios, with a dithyramb

Macalister does think side 2 is some kind of dedication to Iaō but isn't convinced by "feast of Iaō Inasios". He thinks side 2 has an initial dedication to Iaō by the same Eunelos who inscribed side 1, but that the rest are bits of graffiti.

For side 2 I wonder if it would make sense to separate out the ασίου as Asios, the mythological hero, paralleling Herakles on side 1. Also, the ιαω has very different letter shapes to the text above and below, it could be by a different person to first two lines. Maybe someone graffitied ιαω as a magical name, or it could even be random scratchings that don't say ιαω at all.

Sources:

Macalister, R.A.S. (1912) The Excavation of Gezer, 1902-1905 and 1907-1909. Volume 2. London: John Murray, pp. 439-442 (Available at: https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.529780/page/n456)

Dever, W.G., et al. (1971) Further Excavations at Gezer, 1967-1971. The Biblical Archaeologist, 34(4), pp. 93-132 (118-119). https://www.jstor.org/stable/23515585

Seger, J. D. (1973) The Search for the Maccabean Gezer. Proceedings of the World Congress of Jewish Studies, 1(A), pp. 389-395. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23515585

Thiersch, Hermann (1909) "Nachtrag zum VIII. Bericht über die Neueren Ausgrabungen in Palastina (Gezer)" in Jahrbuch des Kaiserlich Deutschen Arclidologischen Instituts. Berlin, pp. 573-576 (Available at: https://archive.org/details/jahrbuchdeskaise2419unse/page/516/)

Where is it at , or does it say in the Bible we are to pray to either Mother Mary or to the Holy Spirit?

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I am writing to this subreddit to ask for resources and insight on the topic of Jesus' resurrection securing Christians salvation. I am writing a paper and wanted academic journals to support that position. I am using the Jessup University database to access these journals, so if anyone is familiar with that database, I would love insight.

A common claim I've seen online is that Pseudo-Dionysius said there were seven archangels, and listed them as Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Camael, Jophiel, and Zadkiel. However, as near as I can tell, this particular list (and more generally the concept of seven archangels) does not appear anywhere in the works of Pseudo-Dionysius. I found reference to this particular list of seven in Clara Erskine Clement Waters 1898 book Angels in Art, and represented in art at some churches, here for instance. The earliest attribution of this list to Pseudo-Dionysius that I found is in Gustav Davidson's 1967 book A Dictionary of Angels: Including the Fallen Angels.

Is it know if there is an ancient tradition behind this particular list, or if it is a more modern idea?

NT studying

How can I,read,study and learn the NT,as an academic would read it,not as a pastor,not as a Christian,but merely from an academic perspective. I’m a Jew so I only look for studying the NT academically and not religiously.

Hello. I am a theology student at Jessup University in Northern California. I am writing a theology position paper on the prompt of

"I believe that God created humans as sexual beings and wants them to express their sexuality in a way that honors him and others."

I am struggling to find sources and journals that could aide me in my writing, and wanted insight from the members of this subreddit on what they feel about this topic, and hopefully cite sources I can dive into and use myself. This is an open discussion and I would love to hear what everyone has to say, whether for or against.

Again, I write this mostly as a plea for resources to educate me, and to help me write a complete position without holes.

I know Mary had other sons, did history keep up with what happened to the rest of her descendants? Did she have grandchildren?

I have read from Genesis to 2 Kings, and so far the books have appeared in chronological order. I've heard that content of Chronicles is similar to Kings, so I thought that I'd leave it to the end. I'm assuming that beyond this point the order of the books becomes less important, but scholars must have opinions about which books should be read together so that the relationships between them can be understood.

My goal is to understand how the texts and interpretations of both testaments have influenced and borrowed from another. I'd like read the OT books together with the NT books that show influence of them, but beyond direct quotations, it's difficult to see the influence without even having read the books.

I have a question about this passage of scripture. I am of the understanding that everything in this passage is specifically directed at Yeshua's "unbelieving and hardhearted" Apostles. While belief in Yeshua will save anyone (that is why He came and that is the message the Apostles are to bring)), I am of the understand that Yeshua was directing that statement toward the Apostles. ALSO, when Yeshua talked about the "signs" that would follow "those who believe," it is my understanding that He is still directing that statement specifically to His Apostles and NOT changing the subject to include anyone/everyone who would believe in Him. In other words, the "signs" were to be performed by the Apostles specifically (if they would repent of their unbelief). Can anyone confirm this one way or another grammatically from the Greek? Thank you.

Mark 16:14-18

14 Ὕστερον [δὲ] ἀνακειμένοις αὐτοῖς τοῖς ἕνδεκα ἐφανερώθη, καὶ ὠνείδισεν τὴν ἀπιστίαν αὐτῶν καὶ σκληροκαρδίαν ὅτι τοῖς θεασαμένοις αὐτὸν ἐγηγερμένον οὐκ ἐπίστευσαν. 15 καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, Πορευθέντες εἰς τὸν κόσμον ἅπαντα κηρύξατε τὸ εὐαγγέλιον πάσῃ τῇ κτίσει. 16 ὁ πιστεύσας καὶ βαπτισθεὶς σωθήσεται, ὁ δὲ ἀπιστήσας κατακριθήσεται. 17 σημεῖα δὲ τοῖς πιστεύσασιν ταῦτα παρακολουθήσει· ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί μου δαιμόνια ἐκβαλοῦσιν, γλώσσαις λαλήσουσιν καιναῖς, 18 [καὶ ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν] ὄφεις ἀροῦσιν, κἂν θανάσιμόν τι πίωσιν οὐ μὴ αὐτοὺς βλάψῃ, ἐπὶ ἀρρώστους χεῖρας ἐπιθήσουσιν καὶ καλῶς ἕξουσιν.

For background, I was raised Catholic and went to Catholic private school in the U.S. from pre-K to high school.

In religion class, my teachers would always go on rants about the “exact” nature of Satan, hell, the apocalypse, etc., but in our class readings of the Bible and in my own personal explorations I have never found passages that explicitly confirm what they were saying.

I honestly can’t remember every single crazy thing they droned on about back then, but I remember them telling is that during the apocalypse our sings would “play before the world like a movie,” or that Satan was once an angel in heaven, God’s favorite, “Lucifer,” who then attempted to “become God” and was punished with eternity in hell. I don’t want to give too many examples, as I want to know honestly just what is in the Bible about these things, because I can never actually find narratives or even verses that really hint at those things like you would expect.

So my question is two-fold: (1) What does the Bible really say about Satan, hell, the apocalypse, etc? (2) And if so many Catholics and Christians have such fervent beliefs in extra-biblical teachings…where do these come from?

Looking forward to your scholarly responses!

I know uncleanness and sin are different. For example, it is not a sin for a women menstruate or give birth, but those things would make a woman unclean. However, is it possible that uncleanness and sin can overlap. Is Leviticus 11 an example pf that?

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"Nevertheless, you are not to eat of these..." (Leviticus 11:4) This is a commandment of God give to Moses, to the Israelites. Such animals were categorized as unclean by God. And since He also commanded the Israelites not to eat them, that means eating them would be sin.

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Am I correct with this way of thinking?

Hello, I am looking for books on sacrifice as described in the title. Ideally, I would want descriptions of the different purposes of the sacrifices, for instance for the different kinds of sacrifice in Leviticus, as well as some information about why it was prescribed in the particular way it is. I would like some resources not only on the animal sacrifices, but also on the grain offerings. And within the animal sacrifice category, I would want info not just on the sin & guilt offerings, but also the burnt offerings, peace offerings, etc. I would like them to touch also on child sacrifice in the ANE and possibly in early Hebrew religion. Doesn’t all have to be one book.

What’s the general consensus about how Paul viewed Celibacy?

I’m not convinced by the armchair scholars I find online. They seem to be biased. Did he really view celibacy as being superior to marriage? Or am I missing context?

H(17).Siempre tuve este miedo porque estoy convencida de que no me querrá o seré un error por toda mi vida y eso me asusta. Siempre quise decirle la verdad a mi familia y sobre todo a mi madre sobre mi orientación sexual,pero a parte de ese miedo hay un miedo más grande que es el de Dios. No me definiría como cristiana, pero se que creo en Dios,Jesus,el espíritu santo,la virgen Maria y la Biblia, estoy tratando de acercarme más a él pero siempre escucho a las personas evangélicas diciendo que un hombre con un hombre o una mujer con otra, es pecado, es del diablo,es repugnante y etc,pero la verdad llevo años lidiando con esto odiandome y tratando de cambiar mi ser,siempre ne sentí atraída por las otras niñas,desde que tenía 6 años y no se,trato de aceptarme o de ignorar este hecho pero aveces esta cosa me surge comoquiera a la mente y no se como sentirme al respecto. Aunque lo escondo es algo que me asusta,me hiere bastante y no se como lidiar o que pensar. Ustedes que opinan? Tienen algo para decirme o no se

Hi Scholars, in my church's bible study the moderator brought up a theory that a portion of Genesis might have been written by a woman. He dismissed this using language implying the idea was ludicrous. I am familiar with the authors called "E," "J," and "P," but not much else. Is there any legitimacy to this idea of a female writer, even inconclusive, or is it as "crazy" as my bible study moderator said? Thanks for your expertise!