Category Archives: New Testament

Posted on

“My Lord and My God!” — Jesus appears to “doubting Thomas”

The following Bible background is for John 20: 19-28

Verse 19: Residences often had bolts and locks on outside doors. “Peace” (i.e., may God cause it to be well with you) was the standard Jewish greeting. Both the mourning period and the continuance of the Feast of Unleavened Bread could have kept the disciples in Jerusalem, even apart from other factors.

20: People could show wounds to stir sympathy, attest courage, or to stir antipathy toward those who inflicted the wounds. But here they function as evidence that he is the same Jesus. Scars could be employed to identify one. Many Jewish people also believed that one would be resurrected in the form in which one died, to prove that the person was the same (wounds could afterward be healed).

The hands refer to the forearm or wrist, not the palm (under the crucifixion victim’s weight, spikes there would have ripped open the hand rather than supported one on a cross).

21: In Jewish law, a person’s agent (sent as a representative) was backed by the sender’s full authority, to the extent that he carried out the sender’s commission.

22: The breathing may recall Ezekiel 37, but especially Genesis 2:7. One of the main functions of God’s Spirit in the Old Testament and early Jewish thinking was to inspire people to speak for God. In the Old Testament and early Judaism, God himself is the giver of the Spirit.

25: Thomas need not be accusing his friends of lying; many claimed to see ghosts in dreams. But a “resurrection,” by Jewish definition, involved no mere apparition but new bodily life; this is what Thomas wants confirmation for.

27: Soldiers could bind victims to crosses with rope, but also could nail them to crosses through their wrists.

28: Both “Lord” and “God” were often divine titles in the Septuagint (cf. e.g., Psalm 35:23; Hosea 2:25). Domitian, probably emperor when this Gospel was written, demanded worship as “Lord God.” A few decades later, a letter from a Roman governor confirms that Christians were known to worship Jesus “as a god.”

 

(Adapted from Dr. Keener’s personal research. Used with permission from InterVarsity Press, which published similar research by Dr. Keener in The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Buy the book here.)

 

Posted on

The empty tomb — John 20:1-18

Verse 1: The Sabbath ended at sundown on Saturday night, but because night travel was unsafe Mary (and anyone else) would have waited till morning arrived or at least was approaching.

Most Judean tombs were private family tombs, many of them around Jerusalem. In many cases this was a cave with a disk-shaped stone to roll in a groove across its entrance. A wealthy tomb could have a stone roughly a yard or meter in diameter, requiring more than one person to move it.

2: Romans saw to it that those crucified were dead; on the rare occasion where a crucifixion was stopped and a person taken down and given medical help, they usually died anyway. Apart from a resurrection, which no one expected, Mary could only imagine that the body had been stolen, that the authorities had confiscated it (to put it temporarily in a criminals’ common grave), or that owners of the site had moved it.

4: Comparison could often elevate one person without denigrating the other, especially if they were friends. Athletic prowess was one ancient basis for comparison, especially concerning young men.

5: The stooping suggests a tomb with a low entrance leading to a lower pit; the lighting or the positioning of Jesus’ body (for example, on shelves to either side) would explain why the head veil was not visible before entering.

7: The scene is not the disarray one would expect from hasty grave robbers. Nor would robbers have removed the wrappings to take the body.

12: Among the many associations of white, angels were normally thought to be arrayed in white.

14: Jewish people believed that angels could appear in various forms and sometimes disguises, and sometimes that God could disguise individual humans.

15: A “gardener” fits the garden (19:41); these often were very poor.

16: “Rabboni” (my teacher) is more personal than “Rabbi.”

17: People applied sibling language figuratively to members of one’s people, fellow disciples, friends, and others. It may be relevant (depending on one’s interpretation of 20:17) that ancient texts sometimes included predictions of events fulfilled only after the close of the narrative. On ascensions, see comment on Acts 1:9-11.

18: Ancient Mediterranean culture esteemed the testimony of women far less than that of men (and in some circles did not normally accept it).

 

(Adapted from Dr. Keener’s personal research. Used with permission from InterVarsity Press, which published similar research by Dr. Keener in The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Buy the book here.)

Posted on

The crucifixion of Jesus — Luke 23:33-49

Verse 33: Crucifixion was meant to be death by slow torture; although a victim could die faster from shock due to blood loss, they could spend a few days dying of dehydration or perhaps asphyxiation. Hanging naked before crowds, unable to hold back one’s bodily waste or swat flies from wounds, was also meant to humiliate the victim.

34: Although there was biblical precedent to pray for vengeance (e.g., 2 Chron 24:22; Ps 139:7-9; Jer 15:15; 17:18; 18:23; 20:12), Jesus prays for his persecutors’ forgiveness (cf. Lk 6:28). Later rabbis said that those being executed were to confess their sins and pray, “May my death atone for all my sins.” Jesus instead refers to the sin of those who unjustly convicted him; false witnesses were biblically liable to the penalty they sought to inflict (Deut 19:18-19). Ancient biographers liked to parallel comparable figures; cf. Acts 7:60 in Luke’s second volume.

By custom, the soldiers could keep whatever possessions the executed person still had. For lots, see comment on Acts 1:26.

35: One of a naked crucifixion victim’s sufferings was normally public ridicule. Irony is common in ancient literature (here, Jesus does in fact save others, and his enemies sound like the devil in Luke 4:3, 6-7, 9).

36: Cheap, low-quality “sour wine” or “wine vinegar” could be offered to someone to dull their pain, but here is simply part of the mockery.

37: Their ridicule may reflect the anti-Judaism of the Syrian auxiliaries who comprised much of the Roman garrison in Jerusalem.

38: The condemned person sometimes carried the “titulus,” or statement of the charge, to the site of the execution. Posting it above Jesus contributes to the mockery.

42: This request offers another example of Luke’s theme of Jesus’ extraordinary practice of welcoming sinners.

43: Jewish sources often speak of “paradise” or “the garden of Eden” as the future dwelling of the righteous, in contrast with Gehenna, the destiny of the wicked. They proposed various locations for Paradise, such as in the third heaven or on the edge of the world (where some Greeks placed the Elysian Fields). They could use it for the abode of the righteous after death (as here) or after the resurrection.

44: In April, the “sixth hour” might begin shortly before noon. A person could spend days dying on the cross, but Jesus’ beating may have been particularly savage. The ninth hour, beginning shortly before 3 p.m., was also close to the time for the “evening” sacrifice in the temple. Darkness was one judgment on Egypt and recurs as a judgment in the prophets, sometimes for the end-time (due to locusts, smoke, etc.; e.g., Is 13:10; Ezek 30:3, 18; 32:7-8; Joel 2:2, 10, 31; 3:15; Amos 5:18; Zech 14:6). For darkness at noon as a judgment, cf. Deut 28:29; esp. Amos 8:9.

45: The temple curtain here probably is the one separating the holy of holies (the place of God’s presence) and the priestly sanctuary (Ex 26:33). Its rending might indicate that God now provides access for everyone to his presence (cf. Heb 6:19), but the context of judgment suggests that it likelier emphasizes God’s withdrawal from the temple (as in Ezek 10 to 11).

46: Later tradition suggests that Psalm 31:5 (the wording of which Jesus evokes here) was often recited at the time of the evening offering – roughly the time of Jesus’ death here.

47: “Innocent” is a natural corollary of Mark’s “Son of God.”

48: Beating one’s chest was a sign of extreme mourning (cf. 18:13). No public mourning (such as a funeral) was allowed after criminals died, so pious Jewish women may have offered this as the only consolation they could give the deceased.

49: Family and friends could attend an execution; the male disciples, however, could risk danger because they could be regarded as followers of the one convicted of treason. Most crosses were fairly close to the ground (in contrast to most modern pictures of the event), so no one was permitted too near lest they obstruct others’ view. That these women had often accompanied Jesus’ disciples could appear scandalous to some.

 

(Adapted from Dr. Keener’s personal research. Used with permission from InterVarsity Press, which published similar research by Dr. Keener in The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Buy the book here.)

Posted on

The Via Dolorosa: Jesus walks to the cross — Luke 23:26-32

Verse 26: Condemned persons normally carried their own crosses (technically, just the horizontal beam of the cross) out to the site of their execution. Here, however, someone else is drafted; Roman soldiers could draft bystanders to carry things for them (see comment on Matt 5:41).

Cyrene in North Africa had a massive Jewish community (as well as Greek and indigenous residents); many Jewish people used the name “Simon” (which resembled the patriarchal name “Simeon”). Jewish pilgrims (and presumably a few God-fearers) came from throughout the Empire for Passover. (Given the Passover context, when work would be forbidden, Simon cannot be “coming from the field” because he was working there; Jerusalem was so full of pilgrims that many had to seek lodging in surrounding villages.)

27: Authorities derived propaganda value from public executions, and crowds normally turned up to view them. Although official public mourning (as at a funeral service) was forbidden for a condemned person, no one would stop women from mourning in the streets. Women were expected to express lamentation more freely and dramatically than men, and they were less subject to public punishment. (Later rabbinic tradition claims that Jerusalem’s pious women offered a narcotic drink to dull the pain of the person being executed.)

28: “Daughters of Jerusalem” naturally enough refers to Jerusalem’s women, but might also recall some OT judgment oracles (for example, Isaiah 3:16). “Mourn for yourselves” also recalls judgment oracles (e.g., Isaiah 32:9-14; Joel 1:5).

29: Other Jewish sources use similar language for the lament a mother would utter when her children died. During the siege of Jerusalem a generation later, Josephus reports that some women became so hungry that they ate their children (cf. Deut 28:53).

30: Jesus recalls here OT judgment oracles (Hoseah 10:8; Isaiah 2:10, 19-21).

31: Dry wood would catch fire much more easily than green wood. This could mean that if Rome reacted thus to Jesus, how much more would they punish genuine revolutionaries? Or that if Jerusalem’s leaders treated Jesus this way, how much greater would be the violence against genuine threats (Jewish people fought each other as well as Romans in 66-70)? Or it could simply indicate that Jerusalem is becoming more ripe for judgment (cf. Luke 21:24, 29-30).

32: Authorities preferred to execute people on festivals, when the executions would warn the greatest number of people against rebellion. Executing several prisoners at once also simplified the soldiers’ duties.

 

(Adapted from Dr. Keener’s personal research. Used with permission from InterVarsity Press, which published similar research by Dr. Keener in The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Buy the book here.)

Posted on

The illegal trial of Jesus — Luke 22:52-69

Verses 52-53: Romans distrusted subversives who acted secretly at night; here it is Jesus’ enemies, not Jesus, who act this way. People popularly associated night with evil, demons and witchcraft.

54: Taking Jesus at night to the high priest’s private home breached ancient legal protocol (both Jewish and Roman).

55: The guards, perhaps servants, may have planned to stay awake late for Passover, but some guards had to remain on watch during night in any case. To trespass on the high priest’s property required great courage from Peter.

56: Even in this household with many servants, the slave girl would (as we may infer from similar cases in antiquity) recognize that Peter did not belong to the household; he would also be clothed differently from the guards. (Residing in the Upper City and working for a priestly household, she might have seen Peter with Jesus in the temple courts.)

59: Galileans were noted for mispronouncing (from a Judean perspective) guttural sounds. Regional accents were hard to conceal (cf. Judges 12:6).

63: Jewish law did not allow mocking and beating a person before trial.

64: They may view Jesus as guilty of the crime of being a false prophet, misleading Israel (Deut 13:1-5).

66: Whatever informal deliberations may have occurred earlier, a daylight hearing was necessary for any semblance of legality. The groups noted here together constituted the Sanhedrin, Jerusalem’s municipal senate and the land’s highest Jewish court. Later tradition assigns to the Sanhedrin 71 members (including the high priest), seated in a semicircle around the high priest in the Chamber of Hewn Stone. In this period they must have met very close to the temple (see comment on Acts 23:10, 15). Not every member was necessarily present on every occasion, and especially during a festival this may be a specially called meeting of select members (cf. Luke 23:51).

67: For the Sanhedrin, demanding whether Jesus was “Messiah” was tantamount to asking whether he would challenge Rome, hence disturb the peace and their security (cf. 23:2). Yet later reports of Jewish law suggest that one could not force a prisoner to convict himself. A prophet could speak the truth while doubting that his hearers would accept it (Jeremiah 38:15).

69: Jesus is not a conventional “messiah” figure but the universal ruler of Dan 7:13-14. Luke simplifies the Jewish divine circumlocution “power” (Mk 14:62) for his Greek audience less familiar with it.

 

(Adapted from Dr. Keener’s personal research. Used with permission from InterVarsity Press, which published similar research by Dr. Keener in The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Buy the book here.)

Posted on

The last supper — Mark 14:12-21

Verse 12: Technically the feast of unleavened bread immediately followed Passover, but by this period popular usage counted the Passover as part of the larger unleavened bread festival. Representatives from each household would have the lamb sacrificed at the temple, and the household would eat the meat that night.

13: Commentators often observe that, in contrast to leather wineskins, water jars were usually carried by women (often the matron of the home); thus a man doing so would be unusual enough to be recognizable. In well-to-do households (as apparently here), slaves would carry the water; running water was a great luxury, and in many cities people would collect water at public fountains.

14: People wanted to eat Passover within the city limits, so they often sought local hospitality, often leading to crowded accommodations, except in well-to-do homes (as apparently in 14:15).

15: Unless the house was unusually large (some were), the upper room would provide an intimate environment for just a few disciples (say, the Twelve; not many more). This house was presumably of significant size to support an upper room large enough even for twelve to recline. This suggests that this was a spacious home, apparently in Upper City Jerusalem (as opposed to the poorer Lower City, downwind of the sewers).

17: The Passover had to be eaten at night; because sundown came by about 6 p.m. in Jerusalem in April, they could have begun the meal at that time. Normally one or two families banded together to eat the lamb; here Jesus and the twelve function as a family unit.

20: Dipping bowls were particularly used at Passover; the dish here is probably Passover’s dish of bitter herbs. Hospitality and table fellowship established a covenant of friendship; to betray a former host or guest, much less a current one, was considered among the most despicable acts of treachery.

Some scholars suggest that dipping “with” Jesus could imply rebellion, since (as in the Dead Sea Scrolls) the leader should act first, and many ancient banquets seated people by rank. This interpretation would be likeliest if Judas reclined near Jesus, on the same couch (cf. Jn 13:26).

21: Various biblical passages (Job 3:3-26; Jer 20:14-18), early Jewish and Greek lamentations spoke of never having been born alive being preferable to selected worse fates.

 

(Adapted from Dr. Keener’s personal research. Used with permission from InterVarsity Press, which published similar research by Dr. Keener in The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Buy the book here.)

Posted on

Zaccheus meets Jesus — Luke 19:1-10

Verse 2: As a border city, Jericho had a customs station. As one of Palestine’s wealthiest cities, in Judea’s most fertile region, Jericho would provide particularly lucrative tax business. It had a massive sunken garden, a Herodian palace (especially for winter use, given the inviting climate) and other wealthy domiciles. As a “chief” tax gatherer, Zaccheus would hire lower tax collectors and would contract for sales and customs taxes. But while Zaccheus could thus have acquired wealth without cheating, he apparently cheated anyway (19:8).

3: Many men in this era were about five feet tall, so Zaccheus would be shorter than this. People often paid more attention to tall people (though Zaccheus by virtue of his office commanded attention).

4: Unlike the Judean hill country, Jericho had a pleasant climate throughout the year. It was known especially for its palm trees (hence one of its traditional titles, Deut 34:3; 2 Chron 28:15) but also had many other trees, including sycamores. The kind of “sycamore” mentioned here resembles a fig tree and was easy to climb; it differs from the North American sycamore and European and Asian sycamore maple.Although houses in OT Jericho were closely packed, NT Jericho hosted spacious villas and parks, so a tree was handier than a rooftop.

5: Regardless of one’s status, one did not normally invite oneself to another’s home. Also unusual is Jesus’ willingness to accept table fellowship, which normally created a bond of friendship. Pharisees would not trust the table of a tax gatherer, because anyone unreligious enough to collect taxes certainly could not be trusted to tithe foodstuffs.

Jewish people recognized that one who could call the name of a person they had not met was a prophet. Because the journey to Jerusalem from Jericho was about 17 miles uphill (nearly a day’s journey), Jesus may have preferred to let his disciples rest in a place with sufficient accommodations before continuing their journey.

8: Zaccheus’ promise to make restitution treats his exploitation as theft (Ex 22:1-4). Pharisees, who tended to be lenient on legal punishments, required four- or fivefold restitution only for stolen oxen or sheep that were slaughtered or sold, and only if this was verified by witnesses. Zaccheus goes beyond this. Moreover, Judaism traditionally thought of restitution to receive forgiveness, but here it responds to grace instead of invites it.

Zaccheus could not imprison someone on his own authority, but he could make false reports to produce that outcome; his office would thus have given him power to intimidate and secure his demands, if he wished to do so.

9: Jewish people believed that God had made a covenant with Abraham’s descendants, so that most were destined for life except those who broke God’s covenant.

10: In Ezek 34:6, 11, when the leaders of God’s people failed to care for the sheep, God himself sought out the lost sheep.

(Adapted from Dr. Keener’s personal research. Used with permission from InterVarsity Press, which published similar research by Dr. Keener in The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Buy the book here.)

 

Posted on

A brief description of the early church — Acts 2:41-47

Verse 41: Summary sections (such as 2:41-47 here) appear often in ancient literature. Luke’s estimate of conversions is a large number of people (Josephus estimated only 6000 Pharisees altogether!), though not impossible. In contrast to lower earlier estimates, recent estimates of Jerusalem’s population are often 80,000 or higher; pilgrims for Pentecost swelled the numbers higher still. Because worshipers needed to purify themselves ritually, the temple mount had a massive number of immersion pools, rendering the baptism of large numbers there plausible.

Verse 42: Ancient groups often ate together (for example, Pharisaic fellowships, cultic associations). Greek associations typically met and ate together once a month. Table fellowship created friendship and loyalty ties. Music or other entertainment, but also discussions and even lectures, were frequent at common meals in antiquity. Here the focus may be apostolic teaching and prayer.

Verses 43-45: Luke’s description here may adapt the language used by some philosophers for the ideal community (a utopia); others also compare the ancient ideal of “friends” sharing things in common. Qumran sectarians surrendered all possessions to their community and withdrew into the wilderness from the larger society. While Qumran does show the extent to which some groups could go, we should not ignore differences as well. Thus there is no withdrawal here, and believers apparently sell property simply when needs arise (4:34-35), continuing to use their homes (2:46). Christians’ sacrificial lifestyle continued in the second century, mocked by rich pagans until the church later absorbed society’s values.

Verses 46-47: People often congregated under the colonnades of temples, which were normally considered public places. Jerusalem’s temple also hosted public prayer during morning and evening offerings (see comment on 3:1). Greek associations (trade guilds, etc.) often met just once a month.

 

Posted on

Jesus Christ is superior to angels — Hebrews 1

Christ’s superiority to the angels (1:1-14) also made him greater than the law, believed to have been mediated through angels (2:2-3). Some second-century Jewish followers of Jesus, eager to affirm Jesus as greater than merely human but reluctant to consider him divine, viewed him as an angel; if any of this work’s audience held this view, the author could respond to such ideas as well.

Verses 1-2: The most stylish Greek authors often sought to imitate older prose models, and employ Attic (classical Athenian) language. Hebrews 1:1-2 includes some of the most sophisticated Greek in the New Testament. The writer may imitate elements of the widely-circulated prologue of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus). The writer uses the rhetorical device called alliteration: verse 1 includes five words (out of 12) beginning with the letter “p.”

Developing Old Testament ideas (for example, Proverbs 8:30), many Jews believed that God created everything through his Wisdom, the closest category Judaism offered to something divine in character yet distinct from the Father. The Old Testament used “last days” for the time of the end (for example, Isaiah 2:2; Hosea 3:5; Micah 4:1); Christ has now inaugurated these days.

Verse 3:  Hellenistic Jewish teachers viewed Wisdom as God’s exact image, the prototypical stamp by which he imprinted the seal of his image on all creation (just as an image was stamped on coins). Enthronement at the king’s right hand (the highest honor) alludes to Psalm 110:1, which the author will quote explicitly in Hebrews 1:13. “Purification of sins” refers to priestly activity, thus implicitly alluding to Psalm 110:4, which will feature heavily later in Hebrews.

Verse 4: In contrast to Christian and many more mainstream Jewish opinions, some  Diaspora Jewish thinkers believed that angels aided in creation. Some Jews also believed they aided in intercession. None is comparable, however, to Jesus’ role.

Verse 5: Angels could be “sons of God” (for example, Job 1:6), but not in the distinctive sense here (THE Son). The  Dead Sea Scrolls already linked Psalm 2:7 and 2 Samuel 7:14 in speculations about the coming  Messiah. Such an association was natural in Jewish midrash, which frequently linked texts on the basis of a common key term (here, “Son”). In its original setting, Psalm 2 celebrated the promise to David’s line in 2 Samuel 7, its “begetting” applying to the new king’s coronation (or in Jesus’ case, his exaltation to the Father’s right hand; cf. Acts 13:33).  Diaspora Jews sometimes introduced biblical quotations with rhetorical questions; the writer repeats this question at 1:13, using “inclusio,” an ancient framing device that brackets his biblical support in 1:5-13.

Verse 6: The “firstborn” had the greatest inheritance rights of any son (Deuteronomy 21:17); this was the title of the Davidic king in Psalm 89:26-27. The author now cites from Deut 32, a passage that  Diaspora Jews used in worship alongside Psalms (and that was often cited in the New Testament). The quotation is from a part of Deuteronomy 32 in the  Septuagint that does not appear in our current Hebrew text (but which probably reflects a Hebrew original, since it appears in the version found in the  Dead Sea Scrolls.

Verse 7: Psalm 104:4 could simply claim that God uses winds and fire as his messengers, but by this period most Jewish writers interpreted it to mean that angels were made of fire. Angels are created and subordinate, in contrast to the exalted Son (Hebrews 1:8-13).

Verses 8-9: Although Psalm 45 may originally refer to a royal wedding celebration, part of it appears to address God directly (especially in the Greek version used here). Since Psalm 45:6 (Hebrews 1:8) addresses God the king, the writer can assume that Psalm 45:7 (Hebrews 1:9) continues to address him, while also distinguishing him from the God who anointed him. Thus the writer can affirm Jesus’ deity while distinguishing him from the Father.

Verses 10-12: Ancient writers sometimes separated quotations merely with “and” (or, “and he said”). Because interpreters often linked texts based on a common key word (see comment on 1:5), God’s throne being “forever” in Hebrews 1:8 may provide the link for God’s eternality in Psalm 102:25-27, cited in Hebrews 1:10-12.

Verse 13: Because interpreters could link texts based on a common key term or concept, and the author has spoken of God’s eternal “throne” in 1:8, citing Psalm 110:1 here (regarding seating at God’s right hand; already alluded to Heb 1:3) is natural.

Verse 14: The writer proved that the angels were ministering spirits in 1:7; they serve not only the greatest heir (1:4) but also those inheriting salvation (1:14), fitting the common Jewish notion of guardian angels watching over the righteous.

 

Posted on

The prodigal son — Luke 15

15:11-12.   To  ask  one’s  father for one’s  share of  the  inheritance early was unheard of in antiquity; in effect, one would  thereby say, “Father, I wish you were already dead.” Such a statement would not go over  ell even to­day,  and in a society  stressing  obedience to one’s father it  would be a serious act of rebellion (Deut  21:18-21) for which  the father could have beaten him or  worse.

That  the  father grants the  request  means that most of the hearers will not identify with the father  in this parable;  from the  start, they would think of him as stupidly lax to pamper such an immoral son.

The eldest son always received a double portion (Deut   21:17);  in this case, he would have received two­ thirds of the inheritance and the younger brother one-third.

15:13.  Jewish  law did permit a father to determine which assets (especially land) would go to which sons before he died, but they could take possession only on the father’s death: the father was manager and received the land’s profits until then. Thus this son could know what  would be his but could not legally sell his assets; he does it anyway.

Many Palestinian Jews migrated, seeking fortune in less economically pressed areas. The younger son is presumably no older than 18 (he was unmarried) and had an older brother; he would thus have had little experience in managing finances. Moralists considered squandering very evil.

15:14.    Famine was a common devastating  feature of the ancient economy. (People often viewed famines as divine judgments, but because  Jesus’ story does not address the famine area as a whole,  it does not apply this perspective to the story line.)

15:15.    At this point,  Jesus’ Jewish hearers are ready for the story to end (like a similar second-century Jewish story): the son gets what  he deserves­- he is reduced to the horrendous level of feeding the most unclean of animals. The son is cut off at this point from the Jewish community and any financial charity  it would otherwise offer  him.

15:16. Some commentators have suggested that  the “pods” here are the kind of carob pods that Israel would eat only  in  famine, which  some teachers said drove Israel to repentance. Others argue that these are prickly, wild pods that only swine’s snouts could reach.  Neither pod was considered appetizing, and given pigs’ proverbially unclean eating  habits, the thought of eating  pigs’ food would  disgust  Jesus’ hearers. That the young  man is jealous of pigs’ fare also suggests that he is not receiving fair wages (cf. 15:17).

15:17.    “Hired  men” could be either slaves rented for hire or free servants working for pay; either one  suggests that  his father is well-to-do.

15:18-19. Jewish people often used “heaven” as a respectful way of saying “God.” The son here  returns simply out of  hunger and  the belief that his father may feed  him as a servant, not because he is genuinely sorry that he disgraced his father. Given the magnitude of his sin and the squandering of one-third of his father’s life’s earnings, Jewish hearers might  regard his return as an act of  incredible presumption rather than humility.

15:20.    It was a breach of an elderly Jewish man’s dignity to run, though familial love could take priority over dignity after a long  absence. Given the normal garb, the father would have to pull up his skirt  to run. Kissing was appropriate for family members or intimate friends.

15:21-22.  The best robe in the house would  belong to the father himself. The ring would probably be a family signet  ring- a symbol of reinstatement to sonship in a well-to-do house. Slaves did not  normally wear sandals,  though they carried and tied a master’s sandals. The father is saying, “No, I won’t receive you back as a servant. I’ll receive you only as a son.”

15:23.    The  calf would be enough to feed the whole  village; this would be a big party! Aristocratic families often invited  the whole town to  a banquet when a son attained adulthood (about thirteen years old) or a child married.

15:24. Ancient writers sometimes bracketed off a section of their work by repeating a particular line; this bracketing off is called an inclusio. So far this parable has followed the course of the two that preceded it (15:3-10),  but 15:24-32 are bracketed off to address the climactic issue: the elder brother represents Jesus’ religious  accusers (15:2).

15:25-28.  Dancing was used in both religious and nonreligious celebrations. Elder brothers were to reconcile differences between fathers and younger brothers, but here the elder brother, returning at the end of  a long  day’s work, refuses even to enter the house. This is also a grievous insult  to the father’s dignity  and could have warranted a beating (cf. 15:12).

15:29-30.   Failing to greet one’s father with a title  (e.g., “Father, “Sir”;  contrast  even 15:12) was a grievous insult to the father’s dignity.  The elder brother here is a transparent metaphor for  the Pharisees, and the younger brother for  the sinners with whom Jesus was eating  (15:1-2).

15:31-32.  Religious Judaism in this period considered prostitution sinful; both Jewish and non-Jewish sources considered squandering property, especially someone else’s (16:1), sinful. Because the inheritance had been divided, the elder brother was already assured  of his share, effective on the father’s death  (15:12);  he had nothing to lose by his brother’s return. The  final response of the elder  brother is never stated, providing the  Pharisees with the  opportunity to repent if they are willing.

(Adapted from The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Buy the book here.)