King David's Brothers
King David's first six brothers are listed in 1 Chronicles 2:13-15: Eliab, Abinadab, Shimea, Nethanel, Raddai and Ozem. His other brother is not named anywhere in the Bible. Elsewhere, we learn that…
Which Version of King Saul's Death is Correct?
Every person looking at the Scripture has a presupposition. It is impossible to look at the Scripture with a tabula rasa (clean slate) approach. One thing to keep in check is that a Christian should…
Jephthah and Sinful Vows
Some commentators believe that Jephthah would not have sacrificed his daughter. They believe this on the basis that such human sacrifice would be abhorrent to God, suggesting instead that she was…
Samson's Riddle
Samson's riddle is found in Judges 14:14: "Out of the eater came something to eat, And out of the strong came something sweet." The answer was that Samson had taken honey from a hive that had been…
Saul's Age
We don't know how old Saul was when he became king. The only verse in the Bible that should have given us this information (1 Sam. 13:1) seems to have been copied incorrectly over the millennia, so…
Violence in Old Testament II
The reason that it is not evil for God to kill people is that all people deserve to die. They deserve to die for the same reasons that they deserve to be punished in hell once they do die: they are…
Who Ruled Israel?
After the Babylonians, Israel was ruled by the Medes and the Persians, and then by the Greeks, and finally by the Romans. Israel ceased to be a nation-state in A.D. 70 when the Romans destroyed…
Rebuilding the Temple
According to Ezra 1:1, Cyrus issued the edict to rebuild the temple in the "first" year of his reign. Cyrus actually reigned over the Persians from 559 to 530 B.C., but the year of this proclamation…
Goliath Facts
I'm afraid I don't know many theories about Goliath. Part of the problem is the discrepancy in his height. Some manuscripts list him as being 4 cubits and a span, some list him as 5 cubits and a…
Covenant Exile
God's covenant was a legal arrangement in the form of an international treaty between God and Israel. It included stipulations, which we commonly call "laws," as well as blessings that would accrue…
Tribes of the Restoration
Some of the descendants of the exiles from the northern kingdom returned to the land with the Judahites during the restoration in 538 B.C. Some of these had lived in Jerusalem and had not gone into…
Witchcraft?
I do not believe this to have been a hallucination or a mere apparition. In my opinion, it was the "real" Samuel that appeared. I note this for several reasons: (1) [T]he consternation of the medium…
Abuse in Judges 11 and 19
I have not found any in-depth conservative commentary on Judges 11 and 19 as they relate to the issue of abuse (spousal, child, etc.), but there may be some good material out there of which I am…
Saul's Memory Lapse
There are a couple possible solutions to this apparent problem. The first possible explanation is that the events in 1 Samuel 17 actually preceded the events in 1 Samuel 16, and that the arrangement…