The Bible’s volume management is rarely a serious consideration for most Christians. We flip from page to page and take the Book titles word-for-word without any second thought. Hey, there’s no problem with that. It’s the content that matters most, right? On the other hand, in the world of interpretation where we are burdened with the task of…
In Issue #29, there is a mistake in the comment about the decoupling of Pentecost from Passover. Ever since the Upper Room event, Pentecost was forever known to commemorate a different cause from Shavuot. The dating of it also changed to 50th day from Easter Sunday rather than Passover (they are very close though). As…
To most of the church congregation, Sunday service is one coherent experience that hopefully is one of the highlights of their weeks. Interpreters see it quite differently, though. To us, this single event is conjoined by multiple procedures, each following a distinct format and instilling a different flavor to our task. Most contemporary Protestant churches largely…
We can’t talk about good kings without mentioning Josiah 約西亞 {yue1-xi1-ya3}, who was described like this in 2 Kings 23:25, “Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses.” That…
or Song of Solomon雅歌 {ya3-ge1}Old Testament – Wisdom Books The name of this Book comes from its very first verse:Solomon’s Song of Songs.所羅門的歌，是歌中的雅歌。 This Book is remarkable. It not only has two names, (3 if you count Canticles), but is also highly distinguished in its style, message, and purpose compared to all other Books, so distinguished in fact, that…
The Holy Bible on our desks, shelves, or phones is quite literally a treasure. I’m not just saying that because it’s a “Christian” thing to say. Even if you have some deep-sea-salvaged articles nicely displayed on pedestals, I’m sorry, they still pale in comparison. The Bible, inspired by the living God, authored by kings, prophets, and…
Continuing the Oddball series, here’s another one, 倚靠 {yi3-kao4}. The word seems harmless enough. Go for “rely/reliance/reliant” or “depend/dependence/dependent” and you won’t be wrong. But the Biblical equivalence for 倚靠 is not that straightforward. Where 倚靠 appears in the Bible, the English version predominantly uses the word “trust“. In the example of Psa 22:4, “In you our ancestors put their trust; they trusted and you delivered…
啟示錄 {qi3-shi4-lu4}New Testament – Apocalypse(No zombies need apply) The Book of Revelation (Not Revelations) is arguably the most debated and revered Book in the Bible. Its literary style and fantastical content challenge people’s conventional understanding of time, causality, and God’s will regardless of their cultures and eras. Perhaps that’s because it truly is a book from heaven….
耶利米哀歌 {ye1-li4-mi3-ai1-ge1}Old Testament – Major Prophets Lamentations’ pronunciation isn’t tricky at all because… it’s English. The keen eyes among you may have noticed that its Chinese name suggests that the author is Jeremiah 耶利米. Traditionally, this Book was indeed attributed to Jeremiah, hence placed right after the Book of Jeremiah; however, certain evidence suggested otherwise. IMO, authorship bears no impact…
I get it, most of us haven’t taken any Hebrew-as-a-Second-Language classes. Naturally, a lot of names in the Bible can sound confusingly similar. For example, a group of them has been bugging me for the longest time so I’ve decided to lay them all out, in hope that they can be settled once and for all….