Deliver Us From Evil

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Just as good poetry can convey multiple allusions, so “Deliver us from evil” can carry a variety of notions of protection from doing and experiencing evil.

That Small-fry Herod Antipas, or When a Fox Is Not a Fox

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We need to start translating “fox” with its proper Hebraic cultural meaning.

“And” or “But”—So What?

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Writings that were originally composed in Greek tend to have a higher ratio of de to kai than writings that have been influenced by a Semitic language.

What Is the Priest Doing? Common Sense and Culture

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Common sense is connected to cultural expectations. What is understandable in one culture may be opaque in another.

“Son of Man”: Jesus’ Most Important Title

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There is a common thread uniting the views of those who think that Jesus signaled Daniel 7 by using the Aramaic bar enash in the middle of Hebrew speech. Anyone who holds this view must assume that Jesus spoke or taught in Hebrew much of the time. That Jesus used Hebrew a significant amount of the time is a sociolinguistic conclusion that has a growing number of supporters in New Testament scholarship, but one that is still a minority opinion.