The Future of Bible Study Is Here.
You have not started any reading plans.
- More »
Sign in or register for a free account to set your preferred Bible and rate books.
The Suffering Servant as a Guilt Offering
A “guilt offering” was made when one person had wronged another (on any level of deceit, robbery, defrauding, lying, or swearing falsely) and subsequently had committed an iniquity against Yahweh Himself (Lev 5:14–19). A “guilt offering” would regularly be brought before Yahweh by a priest. The priest would perform the act of sacrificing the “ram without blemish from the flock, or its equivalent” (Lev 5:15).
Leviticus 5:16 says that “The priest shall make atonement on your behalf with the ram of the guilt offering and you shall be forgiven.” Similarly, Isaiah 53:4 says that “[the Servant] has lifted our sickness, he has borne the load of our [the community’s] pain.” Just as the ram serves as an offering for the people’s “guilt” and “punishment” (Lev 5:17–18), the Servant lifts the people’s sickness and bears their pain (Isa 53:4), taking away something they cannot remove on their own. The Servant bears the people’s iniquities (Isa 53:11). He is “pierced for our transgressions” (Isa 53:5) and “crushed for our iniquities” (Isa 53:5). In addition to this, “upon him were the bonds of our peace” (Isa 53:5) and “by his bruises we were healed” (Isa 53:5). Isaiah 53:6 states that Yahweh “interposed upon him the iniquity of us all.” In these seven instances, the text indicates that actions are happening to the Servant—these actions are not done by him, but to him.
Just as a sacrificial animal suffers innocently for the wrong committed by someone else, so the Servant suffers vicariously for the sin of the community. Isaiah 53:8 says that the Servant is “cut off from the land of the living” and in Isaiah 53:9 that “his grave [was made] with the wicked … although he had done no wrongs, and there was no deceit in his mouth.” These lines are building toward the Servant’s death and begin to describe it. The Servant is the guilt offering. His death fits the overall context of this passage (Isa 53:5–6, 9).1
John D. Barry
The Temptations of Christ
The New Testament tells of Jesus’ temptations to assure and encourage believers to trust in His salvation and follow His pattern of faithfulness to God. Though sinless, Jesus experienced the moral struggle between the desire to do right and the desire to sin. Temptation is a basic experience all people encounter. For His mission of salvation, Jesus stood in the place of sinful people, suffered the onslaught of temptation, and triumphed by never giving into sin.
The wilderness temptations (Matt 4:1–11; Mark 1:12–13; Luke 4:1–13) highlight Jesus’ role as the new Adam, and mirror Israel’s 40 years of wilderness wanderings. Like Adam and Eve, Jesus underwent temptation, but where they sinned, Jesus proved faithful.
Jesus’ faithfulness is further seen in Gethsemane, where Jesus asked three times for another way (Matt 26:39, 42, 44), and on the cross, where He experienced the despair of feeling forsaken by God (Matt 27:46). Jesus’ temptations speak to the authenticity of the incarnation. The temptations also qualify Him for His role as priest, since He is able to identify with His people in their temptations and restore them in relationship to God (Heb 4:14–16). In addition to completing His work as sinless redeemer, Jesus’ temptations and sufferings—and His responses—teach those who follow Him how to overcome temptation and difficulty in their own lives.
As Jesus demonstrated in the temptation in the wilderness—and through his faithfulness at Gethsemane—the proper response to temptation is to resist with the help of God. In the wilderness, Jesus showed that God’s Word can be used to counter the lies of temptation. Jesus responded to Satan’s appeals by relying on God’s Word, manifesting the lesson that Israel was supposed to learn in their 40 years of wilderness journeying (Deut 8:2–3). Temptation often presents sin as acceptable and desirable; the antidote is the truth of God’s Word. In Gethsemane, Jesus charged His disciples to pray that they not enter into temptation (Luke 22:40).
Christ’s temptations occurred for our sake, as part of His work to save His people. The experience of being tempted “in all ways as we are” (Heb 4:15) reassures believers that Jesus, despite being the eternal God, truly understands the experience of temptation. He endured the strain of temptation from childhood until His final moments on the cross. Jesus experienced the temptation to retaliate when sinned against, to withdraw and protect Himself, to shrink back from God’s mission, and to avoid suffering. His empathy and willingness to help those undergoing temptation originate in His personal experience. Hebrews 4:16 urges Christians to seek Jesus’ help, as He both understands temptation and pain, and possesses the ability to provide the aid necessary to surmount any obstacle.
John McKinley
The Term “Nephilim”
The etymology of the Hebrew term nephilim—often translated “Nephilim”—is uncertain. Its association with the Hebrew verb nafal often yields the rendering “fallen ones,” that is, fallen angels. But it is not clear from the text that the Nephilim are identical with divine beings. Rather, they appear to be the offspring of the cohabitation of the “sons of God” and the “daughters of men”—and the offspring may have reproduced as well (Genesis 6:4). Because Numbers 13:33 implies the Nephilim were people of extraordinary physical stature, the term may be understood to mean “giants” or “heroes.” While it is not obvious from the text whether the Nephilim themselves procreated, the Genesis narrative seems to indicate they were destroyed by the flood. If this is the case, there is both a terminology problem and a chronology difficulty in the narrative of the Old Testament. Thus, another solution must be offered.
Nephilim in the Bible
Other than Genesis 6:4, the only biblical reference to the Nephilim is Numbers 13:33. The Israelite spies return to say that the Nephilim were so tall that they felt as small as grasshoppers in comparison. The translators of the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament), and the Latin Vulgate (the ancient Latin translation of the Old Testament) understand the Nephilim to be giants in this passage. The term used in the Septuagint, gigantes, has other implications as well: it suggests that the Nephilim were the offspring of the “angel” marriages. Greek mythology reflects this understanding, telling the story of the gigantes being products of the union of earth and heaven.
Similarly, in Ezekiel 32:20–28, the author repeatedly speaks of “the warriors” who have fallen in battle and who now inhabit Sheol (the underworld). If this is an allusion to Genesis 6:1–4, it seems likely that the writer of Ezekiel connected the Nephilim with the Hebrew verb meaning “to fall.” This possibility also parallels Greek mythology, which uses gigantes for the defeated and imprisoned beings—now living “in the earth” (an equivalent idea to Sheol). Thus, it seems that Numbers 13:33 and Ezekiel 32:20–28 make clear that the Nephilim did exist later; thus, the traditional understanding of Genesis 6:4 must be incorrect in some way.
Survived the Flood?
The phrase often translated “in those days” in Genesis 6:4 refers to the pre-flood period, when the events described in Genesis 6:1–3 took place. Thus, the parenthetical comment often translated “and also afterwards” is a reminder that giants were still around after the flood (compare Num 13:33). To avoid the implication that the race of giants survived the flood, or that “angel” marriages continued after it, rabbinic commentators preferred to suppose that “and also afterwards” refers to the period of grace before the flood. This, though, seems strained, as the following sentence implies continued visits by divine beings to women. But this still leaves the question of how to properly articulate, in translations, precisely who the Nephilim were.
The children produced by the union of the “sons of God” with women are described further as being “of old” (the same word for “forever” in Genesis 6:3), and “men of reputation” (i.e, famous). All of these terms align with descriptions of the “mighty men,” which means the Nephilim would be the “mighty men.” Whether these mighty men—these Nephilim—then reproduced is unknown. But the reference to the sons of Anak, who are Nephilim, in Numbers 13:33 may hint that the Nephilim themselves reproduced.
Michael S. Heiser
Further Reading
Giant Clans in the Old Testament
Nephilim CLBD
About Faithlife Study BibleFaithlife Study Bible (FSB) is your guide to the ancient world of the Old and New Testaments, with study notes and articles that draw from a wide range of academic research. FSB helps you learn how to think about interpretation methods and issues so that you can gain a deeper understanding of the text. |
|
Copyright |
Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. |
Support Info | fsb |