Author Archives: Jared W. Saltz

Midrashic Reading and the Temptation of Christ in Luke

Ilya Repin “Follow Me!” One of the most famous stories in the Gospels is Satan’s testing of Christ in the wilderness (Luke 4.1–13). Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from his baptism at the Jordan and was led by the Spirit through the wilderness for forty days, tempted by the devil. He ate nothingContinue reading “Midrashic Reading and the Temptation of Christ in Luke”

Dress Code Violations: Saul and David in the Cave

Egyptian Tomb Paintings Showing Captured Peoples One of the classes I teach at Florida College is an entry-level freshman survey called Old Testament History and Geography. Right now, we’re blitzing through David’s story and working our way toward the divided kingdom, where I spend more of my time. There are a lot of really fascinating,Continue reading “Dress Code Violations: Saul and David in the Cave”

Mosaic Mixtures and Pesky Parables

The center of the Gospel of Matthew includes a collection of seven stories having to do with the Kingdom of God and its implications for this world and the world to come. We often refer to all of these episodes as parables (as, indeed, the gospel calls them!), but some of the longer ones areContinue reading “Mosaic Mixtures and Pesky Parables”

A Case Against Making a (Priestly) Case Against Shorts

I wanted to take a short break from making posts about the Law and its cultural context to talk about how, sometimes, those cultural contexts and knowing something about how language works in ancient texts can help keep us away from bad arguments about our current culture. This post probably won’t be of much interestContinue reading “A Case Against Making a (Priestly) Case Against Shorts”

Justice: Kings and Case Laws

  Janet Shafner, ‘The Wise Woman of Tekoa’ In 2 Samuel 14, we read about the Wise Woman of Tekoa coming to King David to seek justice for her unusual situation. There, were read: When the woman of Tekoa came to the king, she fell on her face to the ground and paid homage andContinue reading “Justice: Kings and Case Laws”

Rape in the Ancient World (Slaves)

Genesis 37 is one of the most famous texts in the Hebrew Bible. In this narrative we read that Joseph—having been sold as a slave to the Egyptians due to jealousy by his brothers—is very beautiful. Beautiful enough that his master’s wife lusted after him and wanted to sate his lust. Repeatedly she commands, “LieContinue reading “Rape in the Ancient World (Slaves)”

Rape in the Ancient World

In 2 Samuel 13, we read about the horrible situation of Amnon and Tamar, which we talked about last time. However, one aspect of the story bears a closer look. As Amnon begins to force his sister, she cries out: No, my brother, do not degrade me, for such a thing is not done inContinue reading “Rape in the Ancient World”

The Bible and Rape

2 Samuel 13 is one of the most disturbing and tragic texts in the Bible. In this text we read that King David’s daughter, Tamar, was very beautiful. Beautiful enough that her half-brother Amnon lusted after her and wanted to sate his lust, but he couldn’t because it wasn’t lawful. After fixating on it forContinue reading “The Bible and Rape”

Jerusalem II: The Tour Guide Strikes Back

After a relatively easy first few days, day three is really when we got started.  Our day started outside of the Jaffa Gate to the old city and we proceeded to tour the outside of the walls with David Illan. Looking at the Jaffa Gate from the inside of the Old City.  The Jaffa gateContinue reading “Jerusalem II: The Tour Guide Strikes Back”