-
To the people with power
In Ephesians 6:5-9, Paul gives a series of instructions to δοῦλοι (slaves or servants―people in a position of subservience or subjection), and then to κυρίοις (masters or lords―people in a position of power). Here is the passage in the NRSV translation: 5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart,…
-
Wives and participles and Bible and I’m done defending Paul
I thought I might write a post exploring how the original Greek of Ephesians 5:21-33 comes across a little less patriarchal―or at least a little more ambiguous in some ways―than our English translations suggest. And there are plenty of things that could be said to this effect. I could write about how Paul’s call to…
-
Y’all, be angry!
As someone who has spent a fair amount of time reading the NIV translation of the Bible, I was surprised when I translated Ephesians 4:26 from the Greek to find that it does not really say “in your anger do not sin” (NIV). It actually says, “be angry and do not sin.” (This is all…
-
Each one with their neighbor
Here is a literal translation of Ephesians 4:25: “Therefore, laying aside falsehood, (y’all) speak truth, each one with his/her/their neighbor, because we are members of one another.” I’m interested in the part about speaking truth, each one with their neighbor. Some translations try to make this part sound more natural in English, which is nice,…
-
Enduring one another
At the beginning of the fourth chapter of Ephesians, Paul writes this: “Therefore, I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the…
-
Kimberly Latrice Jones’ video, black anger, and white discomfort
This video by black author and activist Kimberly Latrice Jones has been making the rounds on the interwebs. It’s entitled “How can we win?”, and it’s worth watching. I’m sure white people are saying all sorts of things about it, and it probably doesn’t need any more white person commentary. On the other hand, if…
-
It Fell
Inspired by the New Testament book of Revelation and its images of fallen empires, which the author referred to as “Babylon” so as not to attract unwanted attention from the state of Rome. See Revelation chapters 14 (v. 8) and 18 (v. 2), for example. I was intrigued by reading in Greek and realizing that…
-
John and the Bethel Worship Leader’s Daughter
Now when Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and proclaim his message in their cities. When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to…
-
I Must Decrease…Or Must I? (Part 3 of 3)
After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he spent some time there with them and baptized. John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim because water was abundant there; and people kept coming and were being baptized—John, of course, had not yet been thrown into prison. Now a discussion about…
-
I Must Decrease…Or Must I? (Part 2 of 3)
After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he spent some time there with them and baptized. John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim because water was abundant there; and people kept coming and were being baptized—John, of course, had not yet been thrown into prison. Now a discussion about…