Exegetically Speaking

Amos is a message to the faithful in Israel that there is hope for life within God’s creation beyond the coming war. Her children will not be doomed to misfortune. This is a real hope for real people. Dr. Danny Carroll Rodas is the Scripture Press Ministries Professor of Biblical Studies and Pedagogy at Wheaton College.  He has written extensively on Amos, including a major commentary on that prophetic book in the New International Commentary on the Old Testament series. His most recent publication is The Lord Roars: Recovering the Prophetic Voice for Today. He has contributed several episodes to this podcast series.

In Paul’s letter known to us as “Ephesians,” Paul indicates an historical sequence by which his readers came to be included in the foreordained purposes of God. This and other insights arise as Matthew Bates, making a second appearance in our podcast series, takes us through a reading of the Greek text of Ephesians 1. Dr. Bates is Professor of Theology at Quincy University (Quincy, IL). Among his several publications are The Birth of the Trinity(Oxford, 2015) and Gospel Allegiance: What Faith in Jesus Misses for Salvation in Christ.

Is Ephesians 4:12 about leaders doing the work of ministry or training the “laity” to do the work? Answering that question requires a close look at the Greek wording and even decisions about placement of commas by editors. Dr. Michael Bird is Deputy Principal at Ridley College (Melbourne, Australia). His many publications include (with N. T. Wright)  The New Testament in its World: An Introduction to the History, Literature and Theology of the First Christians and What Christians Ought to Believe: An Introduction to Christian Doctrine Through the Apostles’ Creed and Bourgeois Babes, Bossy Wives, and Bobby Haircuts: A Case for Gender Equality in Ministry.

Learn about related programs at Wheaton:

BA in Classical Languages >

MA in Biblical Exegesis >

In our last episode of Season Four (Season Five beginning soon), Prof. Gupta imagines Paul in prison reflecting on one last sermon that captures and expresses without restraint the wonder and truth of God’s grace as he has preached and known it. We begin with the great “But God” of Ephesians 2:4. Dr. Nijay Gupta, Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary (Chicago), has authored several books and articles, including Paul and the Language of Faith and Tell Her Story: How Women Led, Taught, and Ministered in the Early Church. He contributed an earlier episode to this series.

An Exegetically Speaking listener submitted a question about the gender of a Greek relative pronoun in Matthew’s genealogy (Matt 1:1-16), which provides an opportunity to talk about the potentials (and challenges) of this aspect of grammar for translation. The questioner, Russell, listens to this podcast from his home in New Zeeland, where he is an adult learner at the University of Auckland with a special interest in theology and religious studies. Dr. Jon C. Laansma is the Gerald F. Hawthorne Professor of New Testament Greek and Exegesis in the Classical Languages program at Wheaton College, IL. He assists in the production of this podcast and has been a regular contributor.

In his teaching about family relations (e.g. Eph. 5:21–6:9), Paul is echoing descriptions of a household that had been formalized by Aristotle, but in so doing Paul turns Aristotle’s teaching on its head. Dr. Lynn Cohick is Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Director of Houston Theological Seminary at Houston Christian University. Among her many publications are The Letter to the Ephesians (NICNT) and (with Amy Brown Hughes) Christian Women in the Patristic World: Their Influence, Authority, and Legacy in the Second through Fifth Centuries.

Learn more about related programs:

M.A. in Biblical Exegesis 

B.A. in Classical Languages - Greek, Hebrew, and Latin

As Mark Lanier explains in this episode, the opening words of the Epistle of James, which are rooted in the OT idea of the “servant of YHWH,” give us a window onto how the resurrection of Jesus transformed James’ relationship with and understanding of his brother, Jesus. Lanier is a practicing attorney, a teacher in his local church in Houston, Texas, and the founder of the Lanier Theological Library (co-sponsor of this podcast) among other projects in service of the church.

The grammar, metaphors, background, and possible referents of the Greek wording of Colossians 2:15 make for rich challenges and possibilities for interpretation, translation, and application. As Dr. Joseph Dodson explains in this episode, choosing between options may not always be correct. Dodson is the Dr. Craig L. Blomberg Chair of New Testament at Denver Seminary. In addition to other publications, he co-edited, Paul and the Giants of Philosophy: Reading the Apostle in Greco-Roman Context, and is working on commentaries on Romans (Brill) and Colossians-Philemon (Holman).

The narrator of the book of Ruth preserves small but telling mistakes in the Hebrew uttered by the character Ruth, who was a Moabite immigrant to Israel. How are these clues to the narrator’s intentions? Dr. Timothy Lim is Professor of Hebrew Bible & Second Temple Judaism at The University of Edinburgh. He works broadly in the Hebrew Bible, ancient Judaism, and the origins of Christianity, while concentrating in the biblical canon and the Dead Sea Scrolls. He has published The Earliest Commentary on the Prophecy of Habakkuk, among other things.

At a crossroads in the nascent Christian mission the “apostles and elders” conferred to discern where the Spirit of God and the Scriptures were leading them. The question: What is required of the Gentiles for salvation? James cited Amos 9 which foretold the restoration of David’s “fallen tent” so that the “remnant” of humankind would seek the Lord. As Mark Lanier explains, it is that word “remnant” that ties into a major OT theme. Mark Lanier is a practicing attorney, a teacher in his local church in Houston, Texas, and the founder of the Lanier Theological Library (co-sponsor of this podcast) among other projects in service of the church. In earlier episodes he talked about the library and about the word Behold! in Matthew’s Gospel.