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The Contours of the Land in Israel's History
The Land of Palestine
The land of Palestine took its name from the Philistines (the Pelishtim in Hebrew) who settled along the Mediterranean coast from Joppa to Gaza about 1300–12...
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More Words Than Differences among the New Testament Manuscripts. Part 1.
Prof Bart Ehrman is famous for his rhetorically powerful statement that there are more differences among the Greek manuscripts of the New Te...
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God's Gracious Gift of Suffering (Phil 1:29) - Mondays with Mounce
I heard a popular preacher the other day say that he will not accept any theology that allows for suffering. All suffering, he says, is outs...
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Was Jesus “Begotten” or Unique? - Mondays with Mounce
“Begotten” is the KJV translation of μονογενής in John 3:16. It describes the unique relationship of Jesus to the Father. However, the KJV ...
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How can I be Perfect? (Matthew 5:48) - Mondays with Mounce
Jesus asserts that unless a person’s righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees and scribes, they will not enter the kingdom of heaven (Mat...
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Biblical Contradictions: Jesus' Genealogy - Mondays with Mounce
Matthew and Luke have two different genealogies for Jesus, not even agreeing on the name of his grandfather. Is this a contradiction? I will...
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Concordance or Meaning? (Matt 7:13–14) - Mondays with Mounce
When the biblical writer sets a parallel structure, I think it is important to try and keep that parallelism in translation. But there are t...
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Greek Word Order and Nuance (Eph 2:8–9) - Mondays with Mounce
There is meaning in Greek word order, but it is normally so nuanced that it can’t come out in translation. Ephesians 2:8–9 is one of the rar...
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The Myth of “Literal Translations” (1 Tim 4:13) - Mondays with Mounce
Have you ever noticed that when you see something, perhaps something new or different, all of a sudden you start seeing it everywhere? You s...
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Everything All of You Do Should be Done in Love (1 Corinthians 16:13–14)
Paul is ending his letter to the Corinthian church and concludes with a general admonition. V 13 illustrates the issue of aspect, and v 14 s...
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Where O Where Did the Comma Go? (1 Cor 13:2) - Mondays with Mounce
Sometimes the absence of a comma can significantly alter the meaning of a passage, and its inclusion can clarify. 1 Corinthians 13:2 provide...
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Who is Lower than the Angels? (Hebrews 2:6–8) - Mondays with Mounce
The challenge of translating Hebrews 2:6–8 is that the original context (Psalm 8) was talking about people in general (plural), but the auth...
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Encouragement for Exhausted Pastors (2 Tim 1:10) - Mondays with Mounce
Adverbial participles are flexible little critters with a wide swatch of possible meanings. Usually their meaning is relatively clear, somet...
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What Word Should I Study, and Why Italics Annoy Me - Mondays with Mounce
Everyone likes to do a Greek word study. Of all the things that we learn in Greek class, this is the one that stays with us the longest. The...
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Bible Contradiction: Sinful Woman? (Luke 7:36-50) - Mondays with Mounce
There are two stories in the Gospels about a woman pouring perfume on Jesus, and there are enough differences that some people argue Luke cr...
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Who Do Your Give Credit to? (Romans 15:18–19) - Mondays with Mounce
Paul’s only boast is in what God has done through his own ministry, the goal of which was “bringing the Gentiles to obedience” (v 18b). Paul...
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When γάρ Can’t Mean “For” (Romans 12:3) - Mondays with Mounce
γάρ is a tricky word. The more formal equivalent translations tend to just use “for” and let you figure out what it means. The problem is th...
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