The Bible Exposed

Section: Critical Commentary

  • Prophets (but naked): Genesis 9:21

    A list of cases in which people of God appear unclothed. Noah drinks wine and lies uncovered in his tent in Genesis 9:21. Saul strips off his clothes, prophesies, and lies naked all day and night in 1 Samuel 19:24. David is mocked by Michal in 2 Samuel 6:20 for uncovering himself before his servants’ maids. In Isaiah 20:3-4 the LORD tells Isaiah to walk naked and barefoot for three years as a sign against Egypt.

    The argument asks whether such conduct suits those held up as examples to the faithful.

    He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent.

    Genesis 9:21

    And he too stripped off his clothes, and he too prophesied before Samuel and lay naked all that day and all that night. Thus it is said, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

    1 Samuel 19:24

    Then the LORD said, “As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and a portent against Egypt and Cush, so shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptian captives and the Cushite exiles, both the young and the old, naked and barefoot, with buttocks uncovered, the nakedness of Egypt.

    Isaiah 20:3-4

    Source: see Credits and references (no. 34, p. 28).

  • Rape: 2 Samuel 13:14

    Two cases within David’s own household. In 2 Samuel 13:14 Amnon, being stronger than his half-sister Tamar, violates her and lies with her. In 2 Samuel 16:22 Absalom pitches a tent on the roof and goes in to his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel. The argument puts both on record as sexual crimes inside the royal family of a king described as a man after God’s heart.

    But he would not listen to her, and being stronger than she, he violated her and lay with her.

    2 Samuel 13:14

    So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof. And Absalom went in to his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.

    2 Samuel 16:22

    Source: see Credits and references (no. 35, p. 29).

  • Spirit, Beloved and Helper: 1 John 4:2

    Three texts that are often read in unexpected ways are gathered here. First, 1 John 4:2 gives a test of spirits: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. The note asks what exactly is being confessed and who is meant by a spirit here.

    Second, in Song of Solomon 5:16 the Hebrew word that the ESV renders “altogether desirable” is a plural form of an ordinary word for desirable things, and the note asks whether the plural is one of intensity or respect. Third, in John 14:16 Jesus promises “another” helper to be with his followers for ever; the note asks what kind of figure the word another implies and how John 14:26 identifies the helper. (The New Testament text is not yet on this site.)

    His mouth is most sweet, and he is altogether desirable. This is my beloved and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.

    Song of Solomon 5:16

    Source: see Credits and references (no. 28, p. 25).

  • Onanism: Genesis 38:8-9

    Genesis 38:8-9 tells how Judah told Onan to go in to his dead brother’s wife and raise up offspring for his brother, and how Onan, knowing the child would not be his, wasted his semen on the ground. This is the passage behind the word onanism. The argument lists it among the passages in which the Bible speaks of sexual matters very openly.

    Then Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.” But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his. So whenever he went in to his brother’s wife he would waste the semen on the ground, so as not to give offspring to his brother.

    Genesis 38:8-9

    Source: see Credits and references (no. 29, p. 26).

  • Paul: 2 Corinthians 12:16

    In 2 Corinthians 12:16 Paul answers the charge that he burdened the Corinthians, and says he was crafty and caught them by deceit. The argument takes the verse as Paul’s own admission of cunning and guile, treating the words as a confession of a method rather than a charge he is refuting. The surrounding verses show he is answering a charge made against him, so the verse should be read in context. (The New Testament text is not yet on this site.)

    Source: see Credits and references (no. 30, p. 27).

  • Keturah: Genesis 25:1

    Genesis 25:1 says Abraham took another wife, Keturah, but 1 Chronicles 1:32 calls her Abraham’s concubine. The argument notes that a wife and a concubine are not the same thing, so the two books describe her status differently.

    Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah.

    Genesis 25:1

    The sons of Keturah, Abraham’s concubine: she bore Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. The sons of Jokshan: Sheba and Dedan.

    1 Chronicles 1:32

    Source: see Credits and references (no. 24, p. 23).

  • Massacre: Numbers 31:17-18

    The argument gathers the passages in which Israel is told to wipe out whole populations. In Numbers 31:17-18 Moses orders every male child and every woman who has been with a man to be killed, while the young girls are kept alive for the Israelites, and the count of these in Numbers 31:35 comes to 32,000. Deuteronomy 20:16 says that in the cities given as an inheritance nothing that breathes is to be left alive.

    Joshua 6:21 reports that at Jericho every man, woman, child, ox, sheep and donkey was devoted to destruction, and Joshua 10:28 says that at Makkedah Joshua left no one remaining. The argument is that a book which commands and reports this has no standing to accuse others of cruelty.

    Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him. But all the young girls who have not known man by lying with him keep alive for yourselves.

    Numbers 31:17-18

    But in the cities of these peoples that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes,

    Deuteronomy 20:16

    Then they devoted all in the city to destruction, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys, with the edge of the sword.

    Joshua 6:21

    Source: see Credits and references (no. 25, p. 24).

  • Melchisedek: Hebrews 7:3

    Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of God Most High, appears in Genesis 14:18 with bread and wine. Hebrews 7:3 says of him that he has no father, no mother, no genealogy, no beginning of days and no end of life. The argument observes that these are qualities which belong to God alone, and that on this description the priest of Salem outranks Jesus, who had a mother and a lineage. (The New Testament text is not yet on this site.)

    And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.)

    Genesis 14:18

    Source: see Credits and references (no. 26, p. 24).

  • Messiah: Genesis 31:13

    Messiah is an ordinary Hebrew word meaning anointed one, and Christ is simply its Greek counterpart. The argument shows how widely the Old Testament uses it. In Genesis 31:13 God recalls the pillar Jacob anointed at Bethel; in Leviticus 8:10 Moses anoints the tabernacle with the anointing oil; 1 Samuel 2:10 speaks of the horn of God’s anointed king; Ezekiel 28:14 speaks of an anointed guardian cherub.

    Isaiah 45:1 goes furthest, for there the LORD calls Cyrus, a pagan king, his anointed. If the word covers a pillar, oil, a cherub and a foreign ruler, the argument says, then being called Messiah does not by itself mark anyone as divine.

    I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now arise, go out from this land and return to the land of your kindred.’”

    Genesis 31:13

    Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not be closed:

    Isaiah 45:1

    Source: see Credits and references (no. 27, p. 24).

  • Jesus: sundry points: Matthew 10:23

    A set of sayings of Jesus that the argument finds troubling. In Matthew 10:23 he tells the disciples they will not have gone through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes; two thousand years later, nothing of the kind has happened. In Mark 4:11-12 he explains that he speaks in parables so that those outside will see and not perceive, lest they turn and be forgiven, which the argument reads as concealing his message. In Luke 14:26 he says anyone who does not hate father, mother, wife and children cannot be his disciple.

    John 14:6 has him say that no one comes to the Father except through him, but Peter says in Acts 10:34-35 that in every nation anyone who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to him. The argument sets the two sayings in tension. (The New Testament text is not yet on this site.)

    Source: see Credits and references (no. 22, p. 21).