Status Updates From The Hebrew Bible: Prophets

[…] For a child has been born to us,
a son has been given to us,
and leadership is on his shoulders.
And his name is called wondrous councillor,
divine warrior, eternal father, prince of peace,
making leadership abound and peace without end
on the throne of David and over his kingdom
to make it firm-founded and stay it up
in justice and righteousness, forever more. […]

(651)

Nevertheless, the identity of the young woman is unclear and has been much debated. She might be the prophet’s wife because there is precedent for prophets begetting symbolic sons, or she might be a woman in the house of David.

(645)

14. the young woman. Although this verse generated many centuries of Christological readings emphasizing the virgin birth, the Hebrew ’almah does not mean “virgin”, but rather “young woman”, and in Proverbs the ’almah is represented engaged in sex. The “sign” here is the name she gives the child, which means “God is with us”.

(645)

[Beautiful chapter, with magnificent poetry.]

(621)

End of "2 Kings"

(613)

End of "1 Kings"

(527)

End of "2 Samuel"

(424)

Elhanan... struck down Goliath the Gittite. This is one of the most famous contradictions in the Book of Samuel. Various attempts, both ancient and modern, have been made to harmonize the contradiction — such as the contention that “Goliath” is not a name but a Philistine title — but none of these efforts is convincing. Of the two reports, this one may well be the more plausible. […]

(407)

The bond between men in this warrior culture could easily be stronger than the bond between men and women.

(311)