Greek Isaiah in a Year, Week 8=Isaiah 9:1-10:4

Greek Isaiah in a Year rolls on!

In this last week (week 7) we covered chapter 8. Note that 8:23 in the reading plan is actually 9:1 in the Göttingen and Ottley editions, but marked as 8:23 in the Hebrew Masoretic text, as well as Rahlfs. Note Ken Penner’s versification comparison chart here.

Here is the schedule and text for Monday through Friday, using again the text from R.R. Ottley’s Book of Isaiah According to the Septuagint. (As always, Ottley is here on Amazon, here in Logos, and here as a free, downloadable pdf in the public domain.) The full reading plan for our group is here (pdf).

Monday, January 21: Isa 9:1 MT=9:2 LXX – Isa 9:6 MT=9:7 LXX

²ὁ λαὸς ὁ καθήμενος ἐν σκότει, ἴδετε φῶς μέγα· οἱ κατοικοῦντες ἐν χώρᾳ καὶ σκιᾷ θανάτου, φῶς λάμψει ἐφʼ ὑμᾶς. ³τὸ πλεῖστον τοῦ λαοῦ ὃ κατήγαγες ἐν εὐφροσύνῃ σου, καὶ εὐφρανθήσονται ἐνώπιόν σου ὡς οἱ εὐφραινόμενοι ἐν ἀμήτῳ, καὶ ὃν τρόπον εὐφραίνονται οἱ διαιρούμενοι σκῦλα. ⁴διότι ἀφαιρεθήσεται ὁ ζυγὸς ὁ ἐπʼ αὐτῶν κείμενος, καὶ ἡ ῥάβδος ἡ ἐπὶ τοῦ τραχήλου αὐτῶν· τὴν γὰρ ῥάβδον τῶν ἀπαιτούντων διεσκέδασεν Κύριος, ὡς τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἐπὶ Μαδιάμ. ⁵ὅτι πᾶσαν στολὴν ἐπισυνηγμένην δόλῳ καὶ ἱμάτιον μετὰ καταλλαγῆς ἀποτίσουσιν, καὶ θελήσουσιν εἰ ἐγενήθησαν πυρίκαυστοι. ⁶ὅτι παιδίον ἐγενήθη ἡμῖν, υἱὸς καὶ ἐδόθη <ἡμῖν>, οὗ ἡ ἀρχὴ ἐγενήθη ἐπὶ τοῦ ὤμου αὐτοῦ, καὶ καλέσει τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Μεγάλης βουλῆς ἄγγελος, θαυμαστὸς σύμβουλος, ἰσχυρός, ἐξουσιαστής, ἄρχων εἰρήνης, πατὴρ τοῦ μέλλοντος αἰῶνος· ἐγὼ γὰρ ἄξω εἰρήνην ἐπὶ τοὺς ἄρχοντας, εἰρήνην καὶ ὑγίαν αὐτῷ. ⁷Μεγάλη ἡ ἀρχὴ αὐτοῦ, καὶ τῆς εἰρήνης αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἔστιν ὅριον, ἐπὶ τὸν θρόνον Δαυεὶδ καὶ τὴν βασιλείαν αὐτοῦ, κατορθῶσαι αὐτὴν καὶ ἀντιλαβέσθαι αὐτῆς ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ καὶ ἐν κρίματι, ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν καὶ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα χρόνον· ὁ ζῆλος Κυρίου σαβαὼθ ποιήσει ταῦτα.

Tuesday, January 22: Isa 9:7-10 (=9:8-11)

⁸Θάνατον ἀπέστειλεν Κύριος ἐπὶ Ἰακώβ, καὶ ἦλθεν ἐπὶ Ἰσραήλ. ⁹καὶ γνώσονται πᾶς ὁ λαὸς τοῦ Ἐφράιμ, καὶ οἱ ἐγκαθήμενοι ἐν Σαμαρείᾳ ἐφʼ ὕβρει καὶ ὑψηλῇ καρδίᾳ, λέγοντες ¹⁰Πλίνθοι πεπτώκασιν, ἀλλὰ δεῦτε λαξεύσωμεν λίθους, καὶ ἐκκόψωμεν συκαμίνους καὶ κέδρους, καὶ οἰκοδομήσωμεν ἑαυτοῖς πύργον. ¹¹καὶ ῥάξει ὁ θεὸς τοὺς ἐπανιστανομένους ἐπʼ ὄρους Σιὼν ἐπʼ αὐτούς, καὶ τοὺς ἐχθροὺς αὐτῶν διασκεδάσει,

Wednesday, January 23: Isa 9:11-15 (=9:12-16)

¹²Συρίαν ἀφʼ ἡλίου ἀνατολῶν καὶ τοὺς Ἕλληνας ἀφʼ ἡλίου δυσμῶν, τοὺς κατεσθίοντας τὸν Ἰσραὴλ ὅλῳ τῷ στόματι. ἐπὶ τούτοις πᾶσιν οὐκ ἀπεστράφη ὁ θυμός, ἀλλʼ ἔτι ἡ χεὶρ ὑψηλή. ¹³καὶ ὁ λαὸς οὐκ ἀπεστράφη ἕως ἐπλήγη, καὶ τὸν κύριον οὐκ ἐξεζήτησαν. ¹⁴Καὶ ἀφεῖλεν Κύριος ἀπὸ Ἰσραὴλ κεφαλὴν καὶ οὐράν, μέγαν καὶ μικρὸν ἐν μίᾳ ἡμέρᾳ, πρεσβύτην καὶ τοὺς τὰ πρόσωπα θαυμάζοντας, αὕτη ἡ ἀρχή, ¹⁵καὶ προφήτην διδάσκοντα ἄνομα, οὗτος ἡ οὐρά. ¹⁶καὶ ἔσονται οἱ μακαρίζοντες τὸν λαὸν τοῦτον πλανῶντες, καὶ πλανῶσιν ὅπως καταπίωσιν αὐτούς.

Thursday, January 24: Isa 9:16–20 (=9:17-21)

¹⁷διὰ τοῦτο ἐπὶ τοὺς νεανίσκους οὐκ εὐφρανθήσεται ὁ θεός, καὶ τοὺς ὀρφανοὺς αὐτῶν καὶ τὰς χήρας αὐτῶν οὐκ ἐλεήσει· ὅτι πάντες ἄνομοι καὶ πονηροί, καὶ πᾶν στόμα λαλεῖ ἄδικα. ἐπὶ πᾶσι τούτοις οὐκ ἀπεστράφη ὁ θυμός, ἀλλʼ ἔτι ἡ χεὶρ ὑψηλή. ¹⁸Καὶ καυθήσεται ὡς πῦρ ἡ ἀνομία, καὶ ὡς ἄγρωστις ξηρὰ βρωθήσεται ὑπὸ πυρός· καὶ καυθήσεται ἐν τοῖς δάσεσιν τοῦ δρυμοῦ, καὶ συγκαταφάγεται τὰ κύκλῳ τῶν βουνῶν πάντα· ¹⁹διὰ θυμὸν ὀργῆς Κυρίου συγκαυθήσεται ἡ γῆ ὅλη, καὶ ἔσται ὁ λαὸς ὡς ὑπὸ πυρὸς κατακεκαυμένος. ἄνθρωπος τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἐλεήσει, ²⁰ἀλλὰ ἐκκλινεῖ εἰς τὰ δεξιά, ὅτι πεινάσει, καὶ φάγεται ἐκ τῶν ἀριστερῶν, καὶ οὐ μὴ ἐμπλησθῇ, ἄνθρωπος ἔσθων τὰς σάρκας τοῦ βραχίονος [τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ] αὐτοῦ. ²¹φάγεται γὰρ Μαννασσὴ τοῦ Ἐφράιμ, καὶ Ἐφράιμ τοῦ Μαννασσή, ὅτι ἅμα πολιορκήσουσιν τὸν Ἰούδαν. ἐπὶ τούτοις πᾶσιν οὐκ ἀπεστράφη ὁ θυμός, ἀλλʼ ἔτι ἡ χεὶρ ὑψηλή.

Friday, January 25: Isa 10:1-4

10 ¹Οὐαὶ τοῖς γράφουσιν πονηρίαν· γράφοντες γὰρ πονηρίαν γράφουσιν, ²ἐκκλίνοντες κρίσιν πτωχῶν, καὶ ἁρπάζοντες κρίμα πενήτων τοῦ λαοῦ μου, ὥστε εἶναι αὐτοῖς χήραν εἰς ἁρπαγήν, καὶ ὀρφανὸν εἰς προνομήν. ³καὶ τί ποιήσουσιν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐπισκοπῆς; ἡ γὰρ θλίψις ὑμῖν πόρρωθεν ἥξει· καὶ πρὸς τίνα καταφεύξεσθε τοῦ βοηθηθῆναι; καὶ ποῦ καταλείψετε τὴν δόξαν ὑμῶν, ⁴τοῦ μὴ ἐμπεσεῖν εἰς ἐπαγωγήν; καὶ ὑποκάτω ἀνῃρημένων πεσοῦνται. ἐπὶ τούτοις πᾶσιν οὐκ ἀπεστράφη ὁ θυμός, ἀλλʼ ἔτι ἡ χεὶρ ὑψηλή.

See here for more resources and links to texts for Greek Isaiah. Here are previous weeks’ readings: Week 1 / Week 2 / Week 3 / Week 4 / Week 5 / Week 6 / Week 7

And here are the Week 8 readings above, but in pdf form.

Romans: Not Really about Justification by Faith?

Romans…is not a theological tractate on justification by faith. It is not a pastoral letter dealing with the specific problems in Rome, as the Corinthian correspondence is with respect to Corinth. …Romans is Paul’s account of how his mission to the Gentiles was grounded not only in his call to be Apostle to the Gentiles but also in Scripture, the only Scripture the first Christians had, that is, the Old Testament.

–Krister Stendahl, Final Account: Paul’s Letter to the Romans

I didn’t need much convincing of the first sentence above. To be sure, Romans is a “theological tractate on justification by faith,” but it is not merely that. To read Romans as only about justification is to miss much of what Paul was about. But perhaps more on my own views about that later. For now, I offer here a review of Krister Stendahl’s Final Account: Paul’s Letter to the Romans (Fortress Press, 1995).

Final Account is a collection of Stendahl’s “notes and musings rescued from tapes.” That the five chapters contained here are based on lectures makes for engaging reading. Stendahl goes through Romans in more or less chapter order. Conspicuous is the absence of any treatment of Romans 16. At one point Stendahl speaks of “Romans 1-15” as a “think-piece epistle,” suggesting perhaps that he–along with other scholars–thinks chapter 16 does not really belong in the book.

The “final account” in Stendahl’s title is “Paul’s account of how his mission to the Gentiles fit into God’s total mission to the world, the tikkun, the mending of the creation…and hence particularly the redemption of Israel.” This account ends up being “final,” because Stendahl understands Paul’s execution at Rome as happening before he could write any more letters. Stendahl adds:

Consequently, Romans is central to our understanding of Paul, not because of its doctrine of justification, but because the doctrine of justification is here in its original and authentic setting: as an argument for the status of Paul’s Gentile converts on the model of Abraham (Romans 4).

In chapter 1, “Paul and Israel,” Stendahl notes Israel and its response to the Messiah as a primary concern of Paul: “How could it be that, while his mission to the Gentiles on the specific orders of Messiah grew spectacularly, Israel itself did not respond?” Chapter 2, “A Particular Letter and Sin Universal” covers Romans 1:1-3:20 and 15. Here Stendahl pushes harder against Lutherans who see only justification by faith in Romans, and against Calvinists who see it as just the breeding grounds for “the proper doctrine of predestination.” Instead, he contends, Romans addresses how Gentiles and Jews in that community are to relate to one another. Abraham is a key figure in the issue of Jew-Gentile relations, and “Paul’s Exegetical Find” of Stendahl’s chapter 3 is that Abraham was an uncircumcised Gentile in Genesis 15 when God “reckoned [his faith] to him as righteousness.”

Chapter 4 of Final Account addresses “Missiological Reflections by a Former Zealot,” covering the key section of Romans 9-11. Paul “thinks and feels and worries with his mind” about “his fellow Jews.” He wants them to “come toward salvation.” Stendahl highlights that Paul both identifies with Gentiles in Rome, including them in the salvation story, yet also warns them to not become arrogant–they are, after all, grafted in. Imperialism in missions today, by extension, should be avoided. Chapter 5 covers Romans 12-14: “Intellectual Worship and Respect for Conviction.” Here Stendahl looks at the “ethical admonitions” that Paul gives, which follow on the heels of the “great theological thought” Paul had had about justification.

Stendahl is to be lauded for situating justification by faith in a larger context. He compellingly provides evidence that Paul was concerned about the salvation of Israel, the place of the Gentiles, and his mission–and concerned about justification by faith as just a subset of those larger concerns.

On the other hand, Stendahl occasionally goes too far with his thesis:

In any case, Paul is moving West. He has plans to go to Spain, and on the way he hopes to visit Rome. That is clearly the reason for his writing.

It’s a reason for his writing, perhaps even the occasion. But to say that Paul wrote Romans with the sole purpose of explicating his Gentile mission goes too far, in my view. It’s all of the above.

Stendahl quotes Scripture rather loosely at times. He acknowledges as much: “Most of the references to the text are my rather free translations and paraphrases.” And the short book comes with the entirety of Romans 1-16 in the RSV, printed at back. Being able to look up verses handily is a great feature here. But the reader quickly finds that she or he will want to double-check such “free translations” against a relatively literal translation like the RSV.

One can easily, then, seek to corroborate Stendahl’s notion that in chapter 15, “[Paul] stressed with words upon words that he had no interest in telling the Romans anything–how to live, or how to think or what to do.” The “urge” or “appeal” (RSV) of Romans 12:1 and the “I have written to you very boldly” (RSV) of 15:15 are just two of a number of places that make the reader wonder how Stendahl came up with that read of the text. He rightly notes that Rome was not a church planted by Paul, and that he wrote to give a “final account” of his mission to the Gentiles. But this does not preclude Paul’s telling the Romans at times “how to live, or how to think or what to do.”

The reader of Final Account will have to read it with caution. But Stendahl offers a refreshing read of Romans, that at least intends to stay close to the biblical text (even if it doesn’t always). His exploration of Paul’s mission to the Gentiles and concern for Israel’s salvation help the student of Paul to more fully appreciate Romans. And his insistence on setting the doctrine of justification by faith in a larger context will be a good challenge to many who so appreciate Paul’s magnum opus.

My thanks to the folks at Fortress Press for the review copy. Find Final Account at Amazon here, or at its product page on the Fortress Press site here.

Apocalyptic Dialogue with my 5-Year-Old Son

It went like this:

Me: These Duplos have eyes all over them. It’s like a creature from Revelation.

He: What’s Revelation?

Me: It’s a book in the Bible. There are all sorts of creatures in it. Dragons, too. It will be a great book for you to read sometime, maybe when you are older.

He: Why?

Me: It’s a little bit scary.

He: Is there a movie?

Well, yes, son, there is a movie. Quite a lot of them, in fact. But we’ll start with the book first.

He’s started on chapter books with us, though, so we’ve been able to begin tackling some fun stories, like this. Revelation, perhaps, later.

A prayer for the first day of school

This semester is the first day of classes at Gordon. This morning in chapel I led us in a responsive prayer, offering thanksgiving and petition to God at the start of a new semester. I offered the prayer in italics, then we all as one congregation read the bold responses.