Insight Into Two Biblical Passages

Book excerpt: This work comprises new insights into two Biblical passages. The first study, titled 'The Anatomy of a Prohibition,' uses the TLG computer database to offer a new interpretation of I Timothy 2:12. The author provides insight that the TLG computer, with its data selections from 200 BC/BCE to 200 AD/CE, supports the interpretation of one of the key words 'authentein' as 'committing violent action,' not 'having authority.' It then explores the effect of this interpretation on exegesis, gender pronouncements, hermeneutics, tradition, theology, and relevance. As a supplement, it offers a history of traditional translations, mistranslations, and interpretations. The second insight study discusses seeing the 'suffering servant' of Isaiah 40-55 as the city of Jerusalem. This 'Servant City' study is based upon a comparison with the material outside the songs and with other ANE city descriptions that are also in the first millennium.