What is the book of Enoch and should it be in the Bible?
The Book of Enoch is any of several pseudepigraphal works that attribute themselves to Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah; that is, Enoch son of Jared (Genesis 5:18). A piece of ancient literature is a pseudepigraphon if it makes false claims as to authorship. A pseudepigraphon will purport to have a (usually) well-known author, but its…
Who wrote the book of 2 Chronicles? Who was the author of 2 Chronicles?
The book of 2 Chronicles serves as a “sequel” to 1 Chronicles in our modern Old Testament. In the Tanakh both 1 and 2 Chronicles were a unified entity concluding the Ketuvim (“Writings”) section and the Hebrew Bible as a whole. The author of 2 Chronicles is unknown, but tradition identifies Ezra as the scribe…
What are the Odes of Solomon?
The Odes of Solomon are a series of Christian hymns believed to have been written in the late first century AD. This collection is entirely separate from the Psalms of Solomon, a group of 18 psalms composed sometime around 60 BC in response to the Roman invasion of Israel. The Odes of Solomon were not…
What is formal equivalence in Bible translation?
Bible translation (and any other kind of translation) is both an art and a science. There is no one-to-one correspondence of words between languages that results in a coherent translation. Even in the examples of “literal, word-for-word” translations, provided below, the translator is still making a decision about which English word conveys the original meaning…
Is there anything wrong with cartoon portrayals of biblical accounts?
There is nothing in the Bible stating that drawings or cartoons of Christian stories or Bible stories are wrong. Jesus loved little children, and it is children who most benefit from cartoon portrayals of Bible characters. It is hard to imagine, given what we know of Jesus, that a drawing or cartoon of Daniel in…
What is the purpose of the warning passages in Scripture?
The New Testament contains several warning passages. Some are clearly warnings about the dangers of false teachings and false teachers. Others alert believers to the reality of trials or warn of end-times events. Yet there are several passages that warn Christians about their own behavior, and some seem to imply a loss of salvation for…
What is synonymous parallelism in Hebrew poetry?
Synonymous parallelism is a poetic literary device which involves the repetition of one idea in successive lines. The first half of a verse will make a statement, and the second half will essentially say the same thing in different words. The statements are “parallel” in that they are juxtaposed, or side by side, and they…
Who wrote the book of Jude? Who was the author of Jude?
The author of Jude identifies himself as “Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ and a brother of James” (Jude 1:1, NLT). A very short letter, Jude is written with urgency, which accounts for its brevity. The name Jude shares etymological roots with Judas. Besides Judas Iscariot, the Gospels mention two Judases. One of them is…
What is the key to applying the Bible to my life?
Applying the Bible is the duty of all Christians. If we don’t apply it, the Bible becomes nothing more to us than a normal book, an impractical collection of old manuscripts. That’s why Paul says, “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God…
Who divided the Bible into chapters and verses?
When the books of the Bible were originally written, they did not contain chapter or verse references. The Bible was divided into chapters and verses to help us find Scriptures more quickly and easily. It is much easier to find “John chapter 3, verse 16” than it is to find “for God so loved the…