Heb 12:24:Gen 4:10. Back to text.
Heb 12:25:Ex 20:19. Back to text.
Heb 12:26:Hag 2:6. Back to text.
Heb 12:29:Deut 4:24. Back to text.
Heb 13:2:Gen 18:1–8; 19:1–3. Back to text.
Heb 13:5:Deut 31:6, 8; Josh 1:5. Back to text.
Heb 13:6:Ps 118:6. Back to text.
Heb 13:11, 13:Lev 16:27. Back to text.
Heb 13:15:Lev 7:12; Is 57:19; Hos 14:2. Back to text.
Heb 13:20:Is 63:11; Zech 9:11; Is 55:3; Ezek 37:26. Back to text.
THE LETTER OF JAMES
Jas 1:10–11:Is 40:6–7. Back to text.
Jas 2:8:Lev 19:18. Back to text.
Jas 2:11:Ex 20:13–14; Deut 5:17–18. Back to text.
Jas 2:21:Gen 22:1–14. Back to text.
Jas 2:23:Gen 15:6; Is 41:8; 2 Chron 20:7. Back to text.
Jas 2:25:Josh 2:1–21. Back to text.
Jas 4:6:Prov 3:34. Back to text.
Jas 5:11:Job 1:21–22; 2:10; Ps 103:8; 111:4. Back to text.
Jas 5:12:Mt 5:37. Back to text.
Jas 5:17:1 Kings 17:1; 18:1; Luke 4:25. Back to text.
Jas 5:18:1 Kings 18:42. Back to text.
THE FIRST LETTER OF PETER
1 Pet 1:16:Lev 11:44–45. Back to text.
1 Pet 1:24–25:Is 40:6–9. Back to text.
1 Pet 2:3:Ps 34:8. Back to text.
1 Pet 2:4:Ps 118:22; Is 28:16. Back to text.
1 Pet 2:6:Is 28:16. Back to text.
1 Pet 2:7:Ps 118:22. Back to text.
1 Pet 2:8:Is 8:14–15. Back to text.
1 Pet 2:9:Ex 19:5–6. Back to text.
1 Pet 2:10:Hos 2:23. Back to text.
1 Pet 2:22:Is 53:9. Back to text.
1 Pet 2:24:Is 53:12 Septuagint. Back to text.
1 Pet 2:24–25:Is 53:5–6. Back to text.
1 Pet 3:6:Gen 18:12. Back to text.
1 Pet 3:10–12:Ps 34:12–16. Back to text.
1 Pet 3:14–15:Is 8:12–13. Back to text.
1 Pet 3:20:Gen 6–8. Back to text.
1 Pet 4:14:Is 11:2. Back to text.
1 Pet 4:18:Prov 11:31 Septuagint. Back to text.
1 Pet 5:5:Prov 3:34. Back to text.
1 Pet 5:7:Ps 55:22. Back to text.
THE SECOND LETTER OF PETER
2 Pet 1:17–18:Mt 17:1–8; Mk 9:2–8; Lk 9:28–36. Back to text.
2 Pet 2:1–18:Jude 4–16. Back to text.
2 Pet 2:5:Gen 8:18; 6:6–8. Back to text.
2 Pet 2:6:Gen 19:24. Back to text.
2 Pet 2:7:Gen 19:16, 29. Back to text.
2 Pet 2:15:Num 22:5, 7. Back to text.
2 Pet 2:16:Num 22:21, 23, 28, 30–31. Back to text.
2 Pet 2:22:Prov 26:11. Back to text.
2 Pet 3:5–6:Gen 1:6–8; 7:11. Back to text.
2 Pet 3:8:Ps 90:4. Back to text.
2 Pet 3:12:Is 34:4. Back to text.
2 Pet 3:13:Is 65:17; 66:22. Back to text.
THE FIRST LETTER OF JOHN
1 Jn 1:1–2:Lk 24:39; Jn 1:1; 4:14; 15:27; 20:20, 25; Acts 4:20; 1 Jn 2:13. Back to text.
1 Jn 1:4:Jn 15:11; 2 Jn 12. Back to text.
1 Jn 1:5:1 Jn 3:11. Back to text.
1 Jn 1:6–8:Jn 3:21; 1 Jn 2:4, 11. Back to text.
1 Jn 1:7:Rev 1:5. Back to text.
1 Jn 1:10:1 Jn 5:10. Back to text.
1 Jn 2:1:Jn 14:16. Back to text.
1 Jn 2:2:Jn 1:29; 3:14–16; 11:51–52; 1 Jn 4:10. Back to text.
1 Jn 2:3:Jn 15:10. Back to text.
1 Jn 2:4:1 Jn 1:6–8; 4:20. Back to text.
1 Jn 2:5:Jn 14:21, 23; 1 Jn 5:3. Back to text.
1 Jn 2:6:Jn 13:15. Back to text.
1 Jn 2:7:Jn 13:34. Back to text.
1 Jn 2:8:Jn 8:12. Back to text.
1 Jn 2:10–11:Jn 11:9–10; 1 Jn 1:6. Back to text.
1 Jn 2:13:Jn 1:1; 1 Jn 1:1. Back to text.
1 Jn 2:18:1 Jn 4:3. Back to text.
1 Jn 2:22:2 Jn 7. Back to text.
1 Jn 2:23:1 Jn 4:15; 2 Jn 9. Back to text.
1 Jn 2:27:Jn 14:26. Back to text.
1 Jn 2:28:1 Jn 4:17. Back to text.
1 Jn 2:29:1 Jn 3:7–10; 4:7. Back to text.
1 Jn 3:1:Jn 1:12; 16:3. Back to text.
1 Jn 3:5:Jn 1:29. Back to text.
1 Jn 3:8:Jn 8:34, 44. Back to text.
1 Jn 3:9:1 Jn 5:18. Back to text.
1 Jn 3:11:1 Jn 1:5. Back to text.
1 Jn 3:13:Jn 15:18–19. Back to text.
1 Jn 3:14:Jn 5:24. Back to text.
1 Jn 3:15:Jn 8:44. Back to text.
1 Jn 3:16:Jn 13:1; 15:13. Back to text.
1 Jn 3:18:Jas 1:22. Back to text.
1 Jn 3:21:1 Jn 5:14. Back to text.
1 Jn 3:23:Jn 6:29; 13:34; 15:17. Back to text.
1 Jn 3:24:1 Jn 4:13. Back to text.
1 Jn 4:3:1 Jn 2:18. Back to text.
1 Jn 4:5:Jn 15:19. Back to text.
1 Jn 4:6:Jn 8:47. Back to text.
1 Jn 4:7:1 Jn 2:29. Back to text.
1 Jn 4:9:Jn 3:16. Back to text.
1 Jn 4:10:Jn 15:12; 1 Jn 4:19; 2:2. Back to text.
1 Jn 4:12:Jn 1:18. Back to text.
1 Jn 4:13:1 Jn 3:24. Back to text.
1 Jn 4:14:Jn 4:42; 3:17. Back to text.
1 Jn 4:17:1 Jn 2:28. Back to text.
1 Jn 4:19:1 Jn 4:10. Back to text.
1 Jn 4:20:1 Jn 2:4. Back to text.
1 Jn 5:1:Jn 8:42. Back to text.
1 Jn 5:3:Jn 14:15; 1 Jn 2:5; 2 Jn 6. Back to text.
1 Jn 5:4:Jn 16:33. Back to text.
1 Jn 5:6–8:Jn 19:34; 4:23; 15:26. Back to text.
1 Jn 5:9:Jn 5:32, 36; 8:18. Back to text.
1 Jn 5:10:1 Jn 1:10. Back to text.
THE SECOND LETTER OF JOHN
2 Jn 1:3 Jn 1. Back to text.
2 Jn 5:Jn 13:34. Back to text.
2 Jn 6:1 Jn 5:3. Back to text.
2 Jn 7:1 Jn 2:22. Back to text.
2 Jn 12:1 Jn 1:4; 3 Jn 13. Back to text.
THE THIRD LETTER OF JOHN
3 Jn 1:Acts 19:29; 2 Jn 1. Back to text.
3 Jn 12:Jn 21:24. Back to text.
3 Jn 13:2 Jn 12. Back to text.
THE LETTER OF JUDE
Jude 4–16:2 Pet 2:1–18. Back to text.
Jude 7:Gen 19. Back to text.
Jude 9:Zech 3:2. Back to text.
Jude 11:Gen 4:3–8; Num 22–24; 16. Back to text.
Jude 14–15:Enoch 1:9. Back to text.
Jude 23:Zech 3:3–4. Back to text.
THE REVELATION TO JOHN
Rev 1:4:Ex 3:14. Back to text.
Rev 1:5:Ps 89:27. Back to text.
Rev 1:6:Ex 19:6; Is 61:6. Back to text.
Rev 1:7:Dan 7:13; Mt 24:30; Mk 14:62; Zech 12:10. Back to text.
Rev 1:8:Ex 3:14. Back to text.
Rev 1:13:Dan 7:13; 10:5. Back to text.
Rev 1:15:Ezek 1:24. Back to text.
Rev 1:16:Ex 34:29. Back to text.
Rev 1:17:Is 44:2, 6. Back to text.
Rev 2:7:Gen 2:9. Back to text.
Rev 2:8:Is 44:6. Back to text.
Rev 2:10:Dan 1:12. Back to text.
Rev 2:14:Num 31:16; 25:1–2. Back to text.
Rev 2:17:Ps 78:24; Is 62:2. Back to text.
Rev 2:18:Dan 10:6. Back to text.
Rev 2:20:1 Kings 16:31; 2 Kings 9:22, 30; Num 25:1. Back to text.
Rev 2:23:Jer 17:10; Ps 62:12. Back to text.
Rev 2:26:Ps 2:8–9. Back to text.
Rev 3:5:Ex 32:32; Ps 69:28; Dan 12:1; Mt 10:32. Back to text.
Rev 3:7:Is 22:22. Back to text.
Rev 3:9:Is 60:14; 49:23; 43:4. Back to text.
Rev 3:12:Is 62:2; Ezek 48:35; Rev 21:2. Back to text.
Rev 3:14:Ps 89:28; Prov 8:22; Jn 1:1–3. Back to text.
Rev 3:17:Hos 12:8. Back to text.
Rev 3:19:Prov 3:12. Back to text.
Rev 4:1:Ex 19:16, 24. Back to text.
Rev 4:2:Ezek 1:26–28. Back to text.
Rev 4:5:Ex 19:16; Zech 4:2. Back to text.
Rev 4:6:Ezek 1:5, 18. Back to text.
Rev 4:7:Ezek 1:10. Back to text.
Rev 4:8:Is 6:2–3. Back to text.
Rev 4:9:Ps 47:8. Back to text.
Rev 5:1:Ezek 2:9; Is 29:11. Back to text.
Rev 5:5:Gen 49:9. Back to text.
Rev 5:6:Is 53:7; Zech 4:10. Back to text.
Rev 5:8:Ps 141:2. Back to text.
Rev 5:9:Ps 33:3. Back to text.
Rev 5:10:Ex 19:6; Is 61:6. Back to text.
Rev 5:11:Dan 7:10. Back to text.
Rev 6:2:Zech 1:8; 6:1–3. Back to text.
Rev 6:6:2 Kings 6:25. Back to text.
Rev 6:8:Hos 13:14; Ezek 5:12. Back to text.
Rev 6:10:Zech 1:12; Ps 79:5; Gen 4:10. Back to text.
Rev 6:12:Joel 2:31; Acts 2:20. Back to text.
Rev 6:13:Is 34:4. Back to text.
Rev 6:15:Is 2:10. Back to text.
Rev 6:16:Hos 10:8. Back to text.
Rev 6:17:Joel 2:11; Mal 3:2. Back to text.
Rev 7:1:Zech 6:5. Back to text.
Rev 7:3:Ezek 9:4. Back to text.
Rev 7:14:Dan 12:1; Gen 49:11. Back to text.
Rev 7:16:Is 49:10; Ps 121:6. Back to text.
Rev 7:17:Ezek 34:23; Ps 23:2; Is 25:8. Back to text.
Rev 8:3:Amos 9:1; Ps 141:2. Back to text.
Rev 8:5:Lev 16:12; Ezek 10:2. Back to text.
Rev 8:7:Ex 9:23–25. Back to text.
Rev 8:8:Jer 51:25. Back to text.
Rev 8:10:Is 14:12. Back to text.
Rev 9:2:Gen 19:28; Ex 19:18; Joel 2:10. Back to text.
Rev 9:3:Ex 10:12–15. Back to text.
Rev 9:4:Ezek 9:4. Back to text.
Rev 9:6:Job 3:21. Back to text.
Rev 9:7:Joel 2:4. Back to text.
Rev 9:8:Joel 1:6. Back to text.
Rev 9:9:Joel 2:5. Back to text.
Rev 9:13:Ex 30:1–3. Back to text.
Rev 9:20:Is 17:8; Ps 115:4–7; 135:15–17. Back to text.
Rev 10:5:Deut 32:40; Dan 12:7. Back to text.
Rev 10:9:Ezek 2:8; 3:1–3. Back to text.
Rev 10:11:Jer 1:10. Back to text.
Rev 11:1:Ezek 40:3. Back to text.
Rev 11:2:Zech 12:3; Is 63:18; Lk 21:24. Back to text.
Rev 11:4:Zech 4:3, 11–14. Back to text.
Rev 11:5:2 Kings 1:10; Jer 5:14. Back to text.
Rev 11:6:1 Kings 17:1; Ex 7:17, 19. Back to text.
Rev 11:7:Dan 7:3, 7, 21. Back to text.
Rev 11:8:Is 1:9. Back to text.
Rev 11:11:Ezek 37:5, 10. Back to text.
Rev 11:12:2 Kings 2:11. Back to text.
Rev 11:15:Ps 22:28; Dan 7:14, 27. Back to text.
Rev 11:18:Ps 2:1. Back to text.
Rev 11:19:1 Kings 8:1–6; 2 Mac 2:4–8. Back to text.
Rev 12:2:Mic 4:10. Back to text.
Rev 12:3:Dan 7:7. Back to text.
Rev 12:4:Dan 8:10. Back to text.
Rev 12:5:Is 66:7; Ps 2:9. Back to text.
Rev 12:7:Dan 10:13. Back to text.
Rev 12:9:Gen 3:1, 14–15; Zech 3:1. Back to text.
Rev 12:10:Job 1:9–11. Back to text.
Rev 12:12:Is 44:23; 49:13. Back to text.
Rev 12:14:Dan 7:25; 12:7. Back to text.
Rev 13:1:Dan 7:1–6. Back to text.
Rev 13:5:Dan 7:8. Back to text.
Rev 13:7:Dan 7:21. Back to text.
Rev 13:9:Mk 4:23. Back to text.
Rev 13:10:Jer 15:2. Back to text.
Rev 13:14:Deut 13:1–5. Back to text.
Rev 13:15:Dan 3:5. Back to text.
Rev 14:1:Ezek 9:4. Back to text.
Rev 14:8:Is 21:9. Back to text.
Rev 14:10:Jer 51:7; Gen 19:24. Back to text.
Rev 14:11:Is 34:10. Back to text.
Rev 14:14:Dan 7:13. Back to text.
Rev 14:15:Joel 3:13; Mt 13:30. Back to text.
Rev 14:20:Joel 3:13. Back to text.
Rev 15:1:Lev 26:21. Back to text.
Rev 15:3:Ex 15:1; Ps 145:17. Back to text.
Rev 15:4:Jer 10:7; Ps 86:9–10. Back to text.
Rev 15:5:Ex 40:34. Back to text.
Rev 15:8:1 Kings 8:10; Is 6:4; Ezek 44:4. Back to text.
Rev 16:1:Is 66:6; Ps 69:24. Back to text.
Rev 16:2:Ex 9:10–11; Deut 28:35. Back to text.
Rev 16:3–4:Ex 7:17–21. Back to text.
Rev 16:6:Ps 79:3. Back to text.
Rev 16:7:Ps 119:137. Back to text.
Rev 16:10:Ex 10:21. Back to text.
Rev 16:12:Is 11:15–16. Back to text.
Rev 16:13:1 Kings 22:21–23; Ex 8:3. Back to text.
Rev 16:15:1 Thess 5:2. Back to text.
Rev 16:16:2 Kings 9:27. Back to text.
Rev 16:17:Is 66:6. Back to text.
Rev 16:18:Ex 19:16; Dan 12:1. Back to text.
Rev 16:21:Ex 9:23. Back to text.
Rev 17:1:Jer 51:13. Back to text.
Rev 17:2:Is 23:17; Jer 25:15–16. Back to text.
Rev 17:4:Jer 51:7. Back to text.
Rev 17:8:Dan 7:3; Rev 3:5. Back to text.
Rev 17:12:Dan 7:20–24. Back to text.
Rev 17:14:Dan 2:47. Back to text.
Rev 18:2:Is 21:9; Jer 50:39. Back to text.
Rev 18:3:Jer 25:15, 27. Back to text.
Rev 18:4:Is 48:20; Jer 50:8. Back to text.
Rev 18:5:Jer 51:9. Back to text.
Rev 18:6:Ps 137:8. Back to text.
Rev 18:7:Is 47:8–9. Back to text.
Rev 18:9:Ezek 26:16–17. Back to text.
Rev 18:11:Ezek 27:36. Back to text.
Rev 18:12:Ezek 27:12–13, 22. Back to text.
Rev 18:15:Ezek 27:36, 31. Back to text.
Rev 18:17:Is 23:14; Ezek 27:26–30. Back to text.
Rev 18:19:Ezek 27:30–34. Back to text.
Rev 18:20:Is 44:23; Jer 51:48. Back to text.
Rev 18:21:Jer 51:63; Ezek 26:21. Back to text.
Rev 18:22:Is 24:8; Ezek 26:13. Back to text.
Rev 18:23:Jer 25:10. Back to text.
Rev 18:24:Jer 51:49. Back to text.
Rev 19:2:Deut 32:43. Back to text.
Rev 19:3:Is 34:10. Back to text.
Rev 19:5:Ps 115:13. Back to text.
Rev 19:7:Ps 118:24. Back to text.
Rev 19:11:Ezek 1:1. Back to text.
Rev 19:12:Dan 10:6. Back to text.
Rev 19:15:Ps 2:9. Back to text.
Rev 19:16:Deut 10:17; Dan 2:47. Back to text.
Rev 19:17:Ezek 39:4, 17–20. Back to text.
Rev 20:4:Dan 7:9, 22, 27. Back to text.
Rev 20:8:Ezek 38:2, 9, 15. Back to text.
Rev 20:9:2 Kings 1:10–12. Back to text.
Rev 20:11–12:Dan 7:9–10. Back to text.
Rev 20:15:Rev 3:5. Back to text.
Rev 21:1:Is 66:22. Back to text.
Rev 21:2:Rev 3:12. Back to text.
Rev 21:3:Ezek 37:27. Back to text.
Rev 21:4:Is 25:8; 35:10. Back to text.
Rev 21:5:Is 43:19. Back to text.
Rev 21:6:Is 55:1. Back to text.
Rev 21:7:Ps 89:27–28. Back to text.
Rev 21:8:Is 30:33. Back to text.
Rev 21:10:Ezek 40:2. Back to text.
Rev 21:12:Ezek 48:30–35; Ex 28:21. Back to text.
Rev 21:15:Ezek 40:5. Back to text.
Rev 21:19:Is 54:11–12. Back to text.
Rev 21:23:Is 24:23; 60:1, 19. Back to text.
Rev 21:25:Is 60:11. Back to text.
Rev 21:27:Is 52:1; Rev 3:5. Back to text.
Rev 22:2:Gen 2:9. Back to text.
Rev 22:3:Zech 14:11. Back to text.
Rev 22:4:Ps 17:15. Back to text.
Rev 22:11:Dan 12:10. Back to text.
Rev 22:12:Is 40:10; Jer 17:10. Back to text.
Rev 22:13:Is 44:6; 48:12. Back to text.
Rev 22:14:Gen 2:9; 3:22. Back to text.
Rev 22:16:Is 11:1, 10. Back to text.
Rev 22:17:Is 55:1. Back to text.
Rev 22:21:2 Thess 3:18. Back to text.
DOCTRINAL NOTES
THE BOOK OF GENESIS
*Gen 1:1—2:4a:The aim of this narrative is not to present a scientific picture but to teach religious truth, especially the dependence of all creation on God and its consecration to him through the homage rendered by man, who is the climax of creation. Hence its strong liturgical character and the concluding emphasis on the sabbath. It serves as a prologue to the whole of the Old Testament.
*Gen 2:4b ff: This account of the state of the world at the beginning, which introduces the story of the first sin, comes from a different and earlier source and is composed in a very different style. There is nothing in these early chapters that commits us to any particular scientific view of the origins of the world or man, or that would exclude the evolution hypothesis.
*Gen 3:15, he shall bruise your head: i.e., the seed of the woman, that is, mankind descended from Eve, will eventually gain the victory over the powers of evil. This victory will, of course, be gained through the work of the Messiah who is par excellence the seed of the woman.
The Latin Vulgate has the reading ipsa conteret, “she shall bruise.” Some Old Latin manuscripts have this reading, and it occurs also in St. Augustine, De Genesi contra Manichaeos, II, which is earlier than St. Jerome’s translation. It could be due originally to a copyist’s mistake, which was then seen to contain a genuine meaning—namely, that Mary, too, would have her share in the victory, inasmuch as she was mother of the Savior.
*Gen 4:1: The story of Cain and Abel has the purpose of showing the effects of sin within society, the fratricide of Cain leading to the vengeance of Lamech and so to the Flood. We are, however, no longer in the first age of humanity, as can be seen from verses 14, 17, etc.
*Gen 4:26: Seth takes the place of the murdered Abel and is the ancestor of Noah. In Ex 3:14 and 6:2–3 we find another account of the origins of Yahwism.
*Gen 5:1, generations: It should be noted that these genealogies are selective and schematic, and the numbers, as often in the Old Testament, are symbolic.
*Gen 6:2, sons of God could mean simply “divine beings,” as elsewhere in the Old Testament. The writer, however, may be using an old story or myth to point out the progressive degradation of mankind before the Flood and to warn against the evil effects of intermarriage either of the descendants of Seth with the Kenites or, more probably, of the Israelites with the native populations of Canaan.
*Gen 6:11: Here begins the Flood narrative formed of two almost parallel accounts. This fact explains the existence of repetitions and discrepancies. It is, in places, remarkably similar to other Flood stories from the ancient Near East.
*Gen 10:1, generations: This “table of the nations” makes use of old material to show how all the nations of the world as then known have descended from the generation that survived the Flood. It was from this world that Abraham was called to be the father of the chosen people.
*Gen 11:1–9: The tower of Babel (= Babylon) is taken as a symbol of political power, empire-building, and the civilization that opposes God’s plan. The tower was probably a ziggurat, i.e., Babylonian temple.
*Gen 12:1–3: With Abraham’s call, sacred history in the strict sense begins. The promise theme runs through the whole patriarchal history, e.g., 18:18; 28:14.
*Gen 14:18, Melchizedek was later taken as a Messianic figure (Ps 110:4) and interpreted in the New Testament as foreshadowing Christ, whose priesthood (including the offering of bread and wine) exceeds that of the Old Testament; cf. Heb 7:1–7.
*Gen 15:1: The Vulgate has “I am thy protector, and thy reward exceeding great.” There was, however, at this stage, no idea of a reward in a future life.
*Gen 16:1–4: The practice suggested by Sarai, involving as it did polygamy, was in accord with moral standards at that time and is referred to in legal codes of the period.
*Gen 19:1: The Sodom episode, so often referred to in the Old and New Testaments, expresses the abhorrence of the true Israelite for unnatural sin and the violation of the sacred duty of hospitality, cf. Judg 19:11–30.
*Gen 22:1–19: The sacrifice of Isaac, while reprobating the practice of human sacrifice then in use among the Canaanites, gives a magnificent example of Abraham’s faith and obedience, as also does 18:1–15; cf. Rom 4 and Heb 11:8–12.
*Gen 22:6: Isaac, carrying the wood up the mountain for the sacrifice, has often been seen as a figure of Christ carrying his cross to die on Golgotha.
*Gen 25:19: With the birth of Esau and Jacob we enter a new narrative cycle. Jacob, renamed Israel, is represented as the ancestor of the twelve tribes and, therefore, of the whole people; cf. Deut 26:5.
*Gen 28:10–22: This narrative explains and justifies the use of what had formerly been a Canaaaite sanctuary, Bethel. The ladder seems to represent the ziggurat, which was a temple with steps leading to a platform at the top.
*Gen 32:24–32: The meaning of this, one of the oldest and most mysterious narratives in Genesis, remains obscure. It is intended to explain the place name Penuel, which means “face of God.”
*Gen 37:2: From this point the book of Genesis is chiefly concerned with the Joseph story, which is full of the sense of divine providence. It has, as might be expected, a markedly Egyptian character.
*Gen 49:1–27: In their present form these “Oracles of Jacob,” blessings pronounced upon his sons as epitomizing the twelve tribes, date from the period of the early monarchy.
THE BOOK OF EXODUS
* This book, made up of various traditions of different dates, deals with two events, the deliverance from Egypt and the Sinai covenant, which, closely linked together, form the basis of Old Testament faith. It is dominated by the personality of Moses. Back to text.
*Ex 3:14:The translation is uncertain; it is, therefore, difficult to decide whether this is a refusal to disclose the name or an explanation of the divine title Yahweh revealed immediately afterward.
*Ex 7:14:Here begins the story of the ten plagues. Again, the narrative is composite, and originally different traditions knew of different numbers of plagues. All, however, lead up to the climax of the death of the first–born. Some of the plagues correspond to natural phenomena that are known to occur, or to have occurred in the past, in Egypt.
*Ex 12:1:The feast of the Passover, the regulations for which are given here, commemorates the deliverance from Egypt. The feast of unleavened bread would probably have been added only after the entry into Canaan. The Passover foreshadows the sacrifice of Jesus (1 Cor 5:7).
*Ex 16:14:The mysterious manna may have been a substance secreted by the tamarisk or perhaps by an insect that feeds on its leaves and is edible. In the New Testament it is a type of the Eucharist; cf. Jn 6:31–35, 48–51.
*Ex 19:3:The covenant makes Israel the people of God and binds them to the fulfilment of the commandments; it is concluded in chapter 24.
*Ex 20:1–17:The Ten Commandments, in their original form even briefer than here, are found in a different version in Deut 5:6–21.
*Ex 40:34: the cloud and the fire, that is, the glory, are ways of representing at the same time the presence and the transcendence of God.
THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS
* As the name suggests, this book is almost exclusively concerned with the regulation of the religious life of Israel by the Levitical priesthood. Although its underlying concept of Israel as a holy people contains an element of permanent importance, the law as such, except for those parts that Christ expressly sanctioned, is not binding on Christians. Back to text.
*Lev 11:1:These regulations concerning what is ritually pure or impure depend, for the most part, on circumstances peculiar to that time; e.g., animals, such as the pig, used in pagan sacrifices. Some correspond to ancient taboos.
*Lev 17:1:The so-called “Code of Holiness” (chapters 17–26) implies an exalted idea of the holiness and otherness of the God of Israel.
THE BOOK OF NUMBERS
* The title of this book is explained by the census with which it opens. It is composed of both history and legislation, and, though edited finally by the priests after the Exile, it contains much ancient material. Back to text.
*Num 11:16–30:The account of the election of the seventy elders emphasizes the charismatic or prophetic basis of authority in the community.
*Num 21:4–9:The bronze serpent may have been the standard or symbol of the tribe of Levi, to which Moses and Aaron belonged. In Jn 3:14 it becomes a type of the saving cross of Christ.
*Num 22:21–35:The story of Balaam and his donkey is of popular origin. The oracles of this foreign seer, especially the fourth (24:15–19), refer to the Messianic king of the future, of whom David is the type.
THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY
*The title comes from the mistranslation of 17:18 in the Greek version (the Septuagint) and really means “a second copy of the law.” The book comprises the so-called “Deuteronomic Code of Law” (chapters 12–26), edited within the framework of two discourses attributed to Moses represented as prophet and lawgiver. The whole is rounded off with a third discourse, a psalm, and an account of Moses’ death and burial. The central theme of Deuteronomy is the election of Israel as the people of God by means of the covenant. Back to text.
*Deut 4:32–40:This passage gives the clearest and most eloquent expression of Israel’s consciousness of its election as the people of God.
*Deut 4:41:The beginning of the second discourse of Moses containing the Deuteronomic version of the Ten Commandments; cf. Ex 20:1–17.
*Deut 6:4–9:The recital thrice daily of this text, plus two others, is the principal practice of piety of the religious Jew; it is called the Shema (“Hear”). It contains the greatest commandment of the Law, that is, the love of the covenant-God (cf. Mt 22:37), and a clear statement of monotheism.
*Deut 12:2:This law, enforcing one single place of worship, connects historically with the religious reform of Josiah just before the Exile in the opinion of many scholars; cf. 2 Kings 22–23.
*Deut 18:18:The prophet like Moses mentioned here refers either to the prophetic movement as a whole or to an individual, either Joshua (successor of Moses) or Samuel. The New Testament sees here a reference to the Messiah; cf. Jn 1:21; Acts 3:22; 7:37.
*Deut 24:1:Divorce was permitted in Old Testament times on account of “hardness of heart”; Jesus, however, insists that it was not in the original plan of God (Mt 19:7–9).
THE BOOK OF JOSHUA
*This book continues the narrative from the death of Moses (Deut 34), through the conquest of Canaan, down to the great covenant-renewal at Shechem. The account of the conquest is stylized and summarized:thus, not all the tribes entered the land together as here described, the operation was not so free of difficulties and even failures as we might assume after a reading of this book, and the occupation of the whole country could not have been carried out by Joshua in person. Judges 1 gives a somewhat different and complementary version. Back to text.
*Josh 6:1:Here, as elsewhere, the history has been worked over in accordance with certain theological ideas.
*Josh 6:17:Following the indications elsewhere in the Old Testament, it would appear that the ban, that is, the physical destruction of the enemy in obedience to the Deity, was practiced much less than a reading of Joshua might suggest. Despite the high religious principles that motivated it, it must be seen in the light of the imperfect stage of moral development reached at that time.
*Josh 3:7–17:The crossing of the Jordan is described in such a way as to bring out the theological parallelism with the crossing of the Red Sea (or, Sea of Reeds); both are seen as due to the direct intervention of God.
*Josh 10:12–14:Joshua’s apostrophe to the sun occurs in a fragment quoted from an old collection of epic material, and the quotation goes on beyond verse 12. This would make a literal interpretation of this event undesirable. It appears from the narrative that a great storm occurred at the same time as the attack and powerfully helped toward the Israelite victory (verse 11). It is this sign of divine aid that is so graphically apostrophized in the following poetic fragment (verses 12–13).
*Josh 13–21:This section consists of topographical indications:the possessions and boundaries of the tribes and other ethnic groups, and a list of the cities of refuge.
*Josh 24:1:The full gathering of the tribes at Shechem for a renewal of the covenant sealed the conquest and the final apportioning of the land. It seems to indicate the conversion to the worship of Yahweh of those Hebrews who did not go down to Egypt.
THE BOOK OF JUDGES
*This book, which has been edited at least twice, fills in the period from the settlement to the monarchy. This was a period of crisis that gave rise to “saviors” raised up by God to meet these critical situations. The deeds of six of these are recounted at some length:Othniel, Ehud, Deborah (and Barak), Gideon, Jephthah, Samson; there are also six “minor” judges who are given only a short notice:Shamgar, Tola, Jair, Ibzan, Elon, Abdon. The book ends with two appendixes (chapters 17–21). Back to text.
*Judg 1:1:This first chapter describes the difficulties and defeats of the conquest.
*Judg 2:11–19:This passage gives the theological scheme of the book according to which the episodic history is presented. It comes from an editor inspired by the ideas of Deuteronomy and resembles closely the scheme according to which the kings, beginning with Solomon, are assessed and judged.
*Judg 5:1:The song of Deborah gives an alternative to the prose account of the previous chapter. Though touched up by later editors, it is very ancient and gives a valuable picture of the state of Israel in the thirteenth century B.C..
*Judg 8:23:It appears from the sequel that Gideon did in fact become a king even if he refused the title; but the idea of an hereditary monarchy was still unacceptable, as the following history of Abimelech shows.
*Judg 11:39:Human sacrifice, common in Canaan and surrounding lands, was never permitted in Israel; cf. Lev 18:21. The few cases we find were due to foreign influence or to an erroneous conscience; cf. 2 Sam 21:4–6; 2 Kings 23:10.
*Judg 13:1:The “Samson cycle” (chapters 13–16) is built on the theme of the broken vow; cf. 13:4–5. This gives a religious character to what otherwise has the appearance of profane literature.
*Judg 17–21:Extracts from tribal tradition which give a dark picture of the times.
THE BOOK OF RUTH
*This charming tale of family life in the countryside of Bethlehem during the period of the judges is imbued with a deeply religious spirit. It is a story of family devotion and of piety toward one’s ancestors. The book has significance for the ancestry of David and the Messiah. Though Jewish in feeling, it is not narrowly so; indeed, Boaz goes beyond what is strictly required by the law and, though the book insists that Israel’s faith must remain uncontaminated, yet it also says it must be made available to all. The call of the Gentiles is foreseen. There is no certainty about the date of the book. It was probably written during the period of the kingship, though some think it was composed after the Exile. Back to text.
THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL
*The First and Second Books of Samuel (the First and Second Books of Kings):Samuel was traditionally supposed to have written these books—hence the title. The Latin Vulgate, following the Greek tradition, links these books with 1 and 2 Kings, calling them 1–4 Kings (Greek, 1–4 Kingdoms). 1 and 2 Samuel cover the early period of the monarchy and are, in fact, composed of two main traditions; this at times makes the sequence of events difficult to follow. The narrative makes plain the difficulty of centralizing the government of the tribes. David’s character and achievement are well brought out, and there is special emphasis on the Messianic importance of both. Yet at the end the signs of possible schism are already manifest. The books were probably written during the period of the divided monarchy. Back to text.
*1 Sam 1:3, Shiloh:At this time, the central sanctuary of the tribes and the residence of the ark, the visible assurance of the presence of Yahweh, Lord of the hosts of Israel.
*1 Sam 2:1–10:This song, though certainly touched up at a later period (e.g., the reference to a king in verse 10), is meant to express Hannah’s sentiments. It has profoundly influenced the Magnificat.
*1 Sam 2:18, ephod:The ephod was either a distinctive priestly garment as here, or a means of divination used by the priest, possibly a container for the sacred lots; cf. 2:28.
*1 Sam 3:1:This account of the prophetic vocation of Samuel (cf. Is 6) is meant to begin a new chapter in the spiritual history of Israel.
*1 Sam 4:1:Here begins a new phase in the epic struggle against the Philistines, which the editor has skilfully woven into the story of the ark and of Samuel.
*1 Sam 4:21, Ichabod:The name means “The Glory is not”; i.e., the glory of the Lord enthroned over the ark has departed. Then followed the years during which the sanctuary of Shiloh was desolate and of which Jeremiah long afterward was acutely conscious; cf. Jer 7:12, 14; 26:6.
*1 Sam 7:2:The story of the ark, which comes from a special source, is continued in 2 Sam 6.
*1 Sam 8:10ff:Choosing a king. Two accounts are discernible—a monarchist and an antimonarchist. In the absence of a central sanctuary and in an atmosphere of defeat, one section of the people demanded a king to re-establish their fortunes; the others preferred to leave it to God to raise up leaders when necessary, as in the days of the judges.
*1 Sam 9:13, high place:It was customary in early Israel to worship God on raised platforms or hilltops, as the Canaanites did their gods. Later such practices were forbidden as leading to idolatry, and worship was allowed only in Jerusalem; cf. Deut 12:2ff.
*1 Sam 10:5, prophets:An inferior kind of prophet who flourished for a time in Israel. They were quite different from the writing prophets, in that they cultivated states of ecstasy and even used musical instruments for the purpose.
*1 Sam 11:8:These figures are probably a later insertion.
*1 Sam 12:11, Jerubbaal:i.e., Gideon.
*1 Sam 12:20–25:Samuel here summarizes the antimonarchist attitude; cf. Josh 24.
*1 Sam 13:1:Acts 13:21 says Saul reigned forty years; but so did David (2 Sam 5:5). These must be round numbers, to indicate a fairly long rule.
*1 Sam 14:38–42:This passage shows how the sacred lots were cast to find out God’s will.
*1 Sam 15:22–23:Samuel does not condemn sacrifices but says obedience is better.
*1 Sam 18:25, marriage present:The usual payment for a bride.
*1 Sam 19:20–24:cf. 10:5.
*1 Sam 26:19, Go, serve other gods:They did not consider the possibility of worshiping Yahweh, the God of Israel, in a foreign land.
THE SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL
*2 Sam 1:26:Vulgate adds, “As the mother loves her only son, so did I love you.”
*2 Sam 2:8, Ish-bosheth:“Man of shame.” The name was really Ish-baal, “Man or servant of Baal,” but the writer could not bring himself to pronounce so profane a name, especially as it belonged to an Israelite; cf. 1 Chron 8:33; 9:39, where the name is given as Esh-baal.
*2 Sam 2:14, play:He meant “do battle.” The idea was to settle the matter by a fight between two select groups of soldiers.
*2 Sam 5:1:The two chapters 5–6 represent the climax of David’s career with the establishment of Jerusalem as the political and religious center of Israel.
*2 Sam 5:6, the blind and the lame:The meaning is, that the place was so strong that it could be defended even by the blind and the lame. But David took it by a stratagem, his men climbing secretly up a shaft from the spring Gihon. The place was ideal for a capital city.
*2 Sam 7:1–29:The point of this prophecy is the establishment of David’s dynasty. Hence God says he will build David a house (verse 11). David thanks him suitably in a formal prayer (verses 18–29).
*2 Sam 9:1:2 Sam 9—1 Kings 2 (except 2 Sam 21–24) is the account of the struggle for the succession to David’s throne. It goes back to the early monarchy and is probably the oldest continuous prose narrative in the Old Testament.
*2 Sam 11:1:The story of David’s double crime shows how he, too, unlike other contemporary monarchs, was under the divine law, not above it, and how God draws good from evil, since it was Bathsheba’s son who would succeed David.
*2 Sam 11:11:It was a religious law that soldiers should remain continent in time of war; cf. 1 Sam 21:4–5.
*2 Sam 13:1:The first signs of dissension become visible.
*2 Sam 16:22:Absalom’s action meant that he was supplanting his father in the kingship; cf. 3:7; 12:8.
*2 Sam 20:10:Thus did Joab remove his last rival and remain in power till David’s death, in spite of the king’s dislike of him.
*2 Sam 22:2–51:This song, probably inserted later, is very similar to Psalm 18.
*2 Sam 24:1:God is here said to command the census, presumably on the general grounds of ascribing the king’s policies to him, but in verse 10 David says he has sinned thereby, and in 1 Chron 21:1 the census is ascribed to Satan as an infringement of God’s prerogatives.
THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS
*The First and Second Books of the Kings (the Third and Fourth Books of the Kings): the period covered in these books extends from the death of David to after the fall of Jerusalem in the year 586 B.C. The main theme is the steady decline of Israel dragged down by the monarchy, and her punishment by God for the worship of false gods, introduced by Solomon and actively promoted by many of his successors, especially in the northern kingdom. Back to text.
*1 Kings 1:1:The story continues from 2 Sam 20:26.
*1 Kings 1:5:There was as yet no natural right of succession and David had already given the right to Solomon, a younger son; cf. verse 13.
*1 Kings 3:1:Chapters 3–11 give the history of Solomon. The Pharaoh of 3:1 and 9:16 (?) was of the twenty-first dynasty, possibly Psusennes II.
*1 Kings 3:5, a dream:A common means of divine communication, especially before the age of the prophets.
*1 Kings 4:32, proverbs:Doubtless some of those of the book of Proverbs are to be ascribed to Solomon. The book of Wisdom however (called in Greek The Wisdom of Solomon), is ascribed to him only because of his reputation for wisdom. It was actually written in the first century B.C.
*1 Kings 6:1:The temple was built on the high ground to the north of Ophel, David’s city.
*1 Kings 8:10, cloud:The visible sign of the presence of Yahweh taking possession of his sanctuary; later called the shekinah by the rabbis.
*1 Kings 8:23–53:This eloquent prayer admirably sums up the relation of God to his people.
*1 Kings 8:27:A reminder that Yahweh was very different from the gods of other nations, who dwelt in their temples.
*1 Kings 9:3–9:God’s response to Solomon’s prayer.
*1 Kings 10:1, Sheba:A kingdom in southwestern Arabia.
*1 Kings 10:22, ships of Tarshish:i.e., ships that could sail to Tarshish (usually located in Spain). The word then came to be applied to ocean-going vessels.
*1 Kings 11:1–8:This account of Solomon’s moral decline stresses the connection between apostasy and sexual excess—a theme often met with in the Old Testament.
*1 Kings 11:14:Because of Solomon’s idolatry, God raised up enemies, to the south (Edom), to the north (Damascus), and within the kingdom (Jeroboam).
*1 Kings 12:1, Shechem was the old religious center of the northern tribes. The alliance between these and Judah was never very strong, even during the united monarchy.
*1 Kings 12:28, Behold your gods:Jeroboam seems to have had no intention of introducing false gods. These were to be images of Yahweh. But in doing this he debased the whole idea of true worship and made it more like pagan religion, to which it was bound to lead in the end; cf. 16:31. Judah, with all its advantages of temple and dynasty, was no better at this time, but reforms were instituted at intervals.
*1 Kings 16:24, hill of Samaria:One of the most splendid sites in the Middle East for a capital city. But even so, the northern kingdom never achieved stability.
*1 Kings 17:1:With this description of the drought begins the prophetic career of Elijah, the great opponent of the nature religion that flourished in the northern kingdom and that Ahab and his Phoenician wife, Jezebel, were so active in promoting.
*1 Kings 18:19, prophets of Baal:These had been brought from Phoenicia by Jezebel.
*1 Kings 19:8, Horeb:i.e., Mount Sinai, where the law was given to Moses and God made a covenant with his people.
*1 Kings 21:10:Two witnesses were required for a legal charge involving the death penalty; cf. Susanna and the elders; cf. Num 35:30; Deut 19:15; Dan 13:40; Mt 18:16.
*1 Kings 21:29:God has mercy on the repentant king, as before in the case of David. But he does not say here that the dynasty will be preserved.
THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS
*2 Kings 2:9, a double share:The eldest son inherited a double share of his father’s property; cf. Deut 21:17. Elisha regarded himself as the son and so asked for Elijah’s spirit as his inheritance.
*2 Kings 3:4–27:The Moabite Stone, or Stele of Mesha, in the Louvre, found in Trans-Jordan in 1868, describes the liberation of Moab from Israel, but understandably is silent about its subjection.
*2 Kings 5:15:A forthright monotheism that not even an Israelite could improve on. However, Naaman realized that Yahweh had a special relation to Israel; cf. verse 17.
*2 Kings 9:24:So was the sin of Ahab visited upon his son, according to the word of the Lord; cf. 1 Kings 21:29.
*2 Kings 14:21, Azariah:Otherwise known as Uzziah; cf. 15:13; 2 Chron 26:1–23.
*2 Kings 15:19, Pul:i.e., Tiglath-pileser III; cf. verse 29.
*2 Kings 16:3:Human sacrifice to Moloch was practiced in Phoenicia.
*2 Kings 17:7–18:A full explanation of how Israel had sinned and was punished accordingly.
*2 Kings 17:24–41:Origin of the Samaritans, written by an orthodox Jew.
*2 Kings 19:35:It is usually supposed that the Assyrians were struck by a virulent disease.
*2 Kings 22:8, book of the law:Probably Deuteronomy. In Deut 12–26 may be seen details of Josiah’s reform, especially as regards the centralization of worship. The book must have been hidden or lost during the reign of the wicked Manasseh.
THE FIRST BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES
*The First and Second Books of the Chronicles (the First and Second Paralipomenon):These books, written after the Exile, give a second account of the period of the kingship. Composed as they were during a time of religious revival, they aim at giving a more religious history of the period than is available in Samuel and Kings. The author’s interest is mainly in Judah and in the worship in the temple. The kingdom of David is idealized and some developments that took place later are here situated in his reign. Back to text.
*1 Chron 1:1:Much space is given to genealogies in Chronicles. Postexilic Judaism was greatly interested in these in its efforts to preserve the race.
*21—29:In these chapters the Chronicler enlarges on the organization of divine worship and of the clergy charged with carrying it out. He records the erection of a (permanent) altar to Yahweh on the site of the future temple and even describes David’s preparation for the temple construction.
*1 Chron 24:3:There were two chief priests in the time of David, namely, Zadok and Abiathar, descended from Eleazar and Ithamar respectively; cf. 1 Sam 22:20; 2 Sam 15:24. Later, in the time of Solomon, Zadok became sole high priest.
THE SECOND BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES
*2 Chron 1:1:The Chronicler makes no mention of the rival claims of Adonijah and of his being put to death by Solomon; cf. 1 Kings 2:13–25. He concentrates on the favorable aspects of the reign and enlarges on the wisdom Solomon received from God.
*2 Chron 6:21, hear from heaven:This phrase recurs like a refrain throughout this prayer, which seems to have been given a liturgical form.
*2 Chron 7:1, fire came down:As it did for Elijah’s sacrifice; cf. 1 Kings 18:38.
*2 Chron 9:31:One might have expected something to be said on Solomon’s decline in morals, but it is passed over in silence. By contrast, the similar failings of his son Rehoboam are underlined; cf. chapters 11–12.
*2 Chron 18:12, prophets:Jeremiah says that false prophets usually proclaim what their hearers want them to say:“every one deals falsely... saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace” (Jer 6:13–14). It will be noticed that the Chronicler omits a large part of 2 Kings which is concerned with the northern kingdom. Elijah, for example, is mentioned only once, in 21:12.
*2 Chron 30:1, Passover:This Passover is not mentioned in Kings. The celebration inspired the people to go out and destroy the illegal high places and altars.
*2 Chron 33:11:There is no record of this captivity of Manasseh in Babylon or of his subsequent repentance, either in 2 Kings or in the Assyrian records, though he is known from the latter to have been a vassal of Assyria.
*2 Chron 33:18, prayer:An apocryphal prayer of Manasseh is usually printed at the end of editions of the Vulgate Bible.
THE BOOK OF EZRA
*The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah (The First and Second Books of Esdras):These two books were originally one and were written probably by the same author as Chronicles. They deal with the century following the return from the Exile, but it is by no means a complete history that they give. The author’s main purpose is to describe the religious and political reorganization after the return, and to underline the workings of God’s providence. There is some uncertainty as to the chronology and order of the events described. Two main sources, the memoirs of Ezra and those of Nehemiah, are here intermingled. Back to text.
*Ezra 1:2:The Persians, unlike the Babylonians, pursued a very liberal policy in matters of religion.
*Ezra 4:4:Understandably, the people who had occupied the land in the absence of the exiles now resented their return and, especially, the building of the temple.
*Ezra 5:1:Building is resumed nearly twenty years later, and the temple is completed in four years (515 B.C.)—but it was a mere shadow of Solomon’s temple; cf. 3:12.
*Ezra 7:1:Fifty-seven years later, i.e., about 458 B.C., according to one view, Ezra the scribe came with other exiles from Babylonia to carry out a much-needed reform. The total number in this group was some 6,000 or 8,000 persons. Many commentators place Ezra’s coming in the reign of Ar-ta-xerxes II, 398 B.C., and hence after Nehemiah.
*9–10:Mixed marriages. Experience had shown that marriage with women of other races involved serious risk of idolatry; cf. Solomon, 1 Kings 11:1–8.
THE BOOK OF NEHEMIAH
*Some years after the arrival of Ezra (cf. Ezra 7), Nehemiah had himself appointed governor of Jerusalem by the Persian king and came to that city to build up its walls (445 B.C.). As before, the project was opposed by the surrounding peoples (cf. chapters 4 and 6), but this time the work was not interrupted. Back to text.
*Neh 8–10:As it was only thirteen years since the reform of Ezra, some scholars think that this passage belongs to the book of Ezra.
*Neh 8:8:The book was of course written in Hebrew, but the people, since their sojourn in Babylonia, now spoke Aramaic, and it had to be translated for them into that tongue.
THE BOOK OF TOBIT
*The Books of Tobit, Judith and Esther
These three books appear together in the Greek Bible, usually after the historical books. The complete Aramaic original of Tobit and the Hebrew of Judith have not survived, and neither book was included in the Jewish canon at the end of the first century A.D. Existing as they did in the Greek Bible, they would have been used and recognized as Scripture by the first Christians. The Greek “Additions to Esther” were probably written two centuries after the Hebrew text. They were composed in Egypt and they exhibit a strictly Jewish doctrine. All three books have a literary form somewhat strange to the Western mind. They are, in effect, religious tales with the appearance of an historical narrative. They may have an historical basis, but the persons, places, events and dates are woven into the narrative in such a way as to have little resemblance to the actual historical record as we know it from other sources. It would seem, therefore, that the writers are intending, not to write history as we understand that term, but to use historical material to impart a religious message.
The Book of Tobit (The Book of Tobias)
The author relates the story of a family living among a pagan people yet trusting fully in God in spite of difficulties. Belief in one God is stressed; marriage between Jews is likewise emphasized and angels figure prominently in the narrative. The book has much to say, too, about the need for good works. It was written after the Exile at some time during the Persian period, though the story may be a good deal older than that. It shows signs of dependence on earlier writings such as the Story of Ahikar, a sixth-century work from Babylon. It also bears a likeness to Genesis in certain points, e.g., to his last injunctions to the family, the important role of angels, the son’s search for a wife, and the care given to burial of the dead. It is interesting to note that fragments of the Hebrew and Aramaic texts have been found at Qumran, which favor the longer text of Codex Sinaiticus, the Old Latin and the Vulgate. Back to text.
*Tob 4:10, charity:i.e., almsgiving; cf. also verses 11 and 16.
*Tob 4:12, immorality:i.e., impurity, fornication.
*Tob 4:17, place your bread:The Greek verb means literally “pour out.” The Latin, with its “your bread and your wine,” preserves better the original text, cf. the Story of Ahikar:“Pour out your wine on the graves of the righteous and drink it not with evil men.”
*Tob 12:9, charity:See note on 4:10.
THE BOOK OF JUDITH
*This is an account of the routing of an army and the freeing of the people of God through a stratagem devised and carried out by a woman (cf. Esther). The story is strongly nationalist in sentiment, especially the victory song in chapter 16. The writer stresses that Judith’s strength comes from God in response to her trust in him, and because she faithfully keeps all the prescriptions of the law. The Greek version of the book (the basis of this translation) was made from a Hebrew original, now lost. The Latin version was made from an Aramaic text, almost a paraphrase, which is not now extant and which apparently omitted about a fifth of the book. Back to text.
*Jud 8:1:The names in this genealogy differ in the various texts and versions.
*Jud 10:4:The remainder of this verse reads in the Vulgate (verse 4):“4And the Lord also gave her more beauty:because all this dressing–up did not proceed from sensuality, but from virtue:and therefore the Lord increased this her beauty, so that she appeared to all men’s eyes incomparably lovely.”
*Jud 13:20:Vulgate adds (verses 27–31):“27And Achior being called for came, and Judith said to him:The God of Israel, to whom you gave testimony, that he revenge himself of his enemies, he has cut off the head of all the unbelievers this night by my hand. 28And that you may find that it is so, behold the head of Holofernes, who in the contempt of his pride despised the God of Israel, and threatened you with death, saying: When the people of Israel shall be taken, I will command your sides to be pierced with a sword. 29Then Achior, seeing the head of Holofernes, being seized with a great fear he fell on his face upon the earth, and his soul swooned away. 30But after he had recovered his spirits, he fell down at her feet, and reverenced her, and said:31Blessed are you by your God in every tabernacle of Jacob, for in every nation which shall hear your name, the God of Israel shall be magnified on occasion of you.”
*Jud 15:9, You are the exaltation of Jerusalem:This passage is included in the office for feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary, e.g., the little chapter for None on the Assumption, 15 August.
*Jud 16:25:Vulgate adds (verse 31):“31But the day of the festivity of this victory is received by the Hebrews in the number of holy days, and is religiously observed by the Jews from that time until this day.”
THE BOOK OF ESTHER
*Set in the Persian capital Susa, this story relates how God saved his people from the hands of an enemy, this time in a foreign country. As in the book of Judith, the deliverance is brought about through the instrumentality of a woman. The book gives details for the keeping of the feast of Purim in memory of this deliverance. Back to text.
*Esther 11:2:The disarrangement of the chapter and verse order is due to the insertion of the deuterocanonical portions in their logical place in the story of Esther, as narrated in the Greek version from which they are taken. They are printed in italics to enable the reader to recognize them at once.
In the old Vulgate these portions were placed by Jerome immediately after the Hebrew text of Esther, regardless of their logical position, because he himself did not regard them as canonical. Hence they came to be numbered 10:4—16:24. It has been thought best to leave the chapter and verse numbering unchanged in the present edition.
*Esther 15:1–16:This deuterocanonical passage is a later expansion of the Hebrew text 5:1–2, which is as follows:“On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace, opposite the king’s hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne inside the palace opposite the entrance to the palace; 2and when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she found favor in his sight and he held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther approached and touched the top of the scepter.” Greek and Hebrew rejoin at verse 3.
THE BOOK OF JOB
*This book is one of the most interesting among the texts that make up the Wisdom literature of the Old Testament. It deals with a profound subject:the problem of the suffering of good men; and is written almost entirely in poetry. It is probably postexilic and its author is unknown.
The problem is clear enough. Material rewards and punishments are promised respectively for the observance or transgression of God’s law; cf. Lev 26; Deut 28. We see the application of this, in Judges and Kings, to the people of Israel. This is collective responsibility; and sometimes, of course, the good have to suffer because of the bad. But when it is a case of individual responsibility, as in Job, why should the good man suffer? Various solutions are proposed but none that satisfies entirely. As yet there is no clear belief in the afterlife with its rewards and punishments; still less is there anything approaching the revelation of the New Testament as exemplified in Christ’s life. Job knows he is innocent though suffering. Is God therefore unjust? He rejects the suggestion and submits himself to God’s power and mercy without receiving a final answer. In the end he is reinstated in his former state of affluence.
The speeches of Elihu (chapters 32–37) are a later insertion. These chapters can be removed without causing any break in the narrative. Elihu is not mentioned elsewhere in the book, nor does Job appear to take any notice of what he has said. The insertion seems to have been made in order to stress the value of suffering in bringing a man back to God. Back to text.
THE BOOK OF THE PSALMS
*The Psalter consists of 150 psalms or sacred hymns. In it we find poetical compositions of different kinds—hymns of praise, prayers for specific liturgical occasions, lamentations both of the individual and the nation, among others. There are psalms that express the deepest emotions of the human heart. They were used in, and many of them composed for, the temple worship. Some of them date back to King David, others were written after the Exile. Their composition thus covers a long period. They were gradually brought together in small collections and finally edited in one large collection arranged in five books. This became the hymnbook of the Second Temple.
The Christian Church took over the Psalter and used it following the example of Jesus himself. The Psalms have always been used extensively in the liturgy and in the dally office of the priest. In the early Church lay people became familiar with them, as St. Jerome tells us.
The numbering of the Psalms used here is that of the Hebrew Bible, which is, of course, followed in the Revised Standard Version. It varies somewhat from the Greek, which is followed by the Latin Vulgate and vernacular versions based on it. This alternative numbering is given in brackets. Psalms 9 and 10 in the Hebrew form Psalm 9 in the Vulgate. Psalms 114 and 115 in the Hebrew are counted as Psalm 113 in the Vulgate. Back to text.
*Ps 2:1Together with Ps 110 a royal, Messianic psalm, often applied to Jesus as Messiah in the New Testament.
*Ps 8:1A magnificent hymn to the glory of God as seen in creation and reflected in man.
*Ps 18:1A slightly different form of this psalm is found in 2 Sam 22.
*Ps 22:1This lamentation of the righteous man in his sufferings has profoundly influenced the Gospel passion story. See especially Mt 27:46.
*Ps 42:1This and the following psalm were originally one, as can be seen from the refrain repeated three times.
*Ps 51:1This psalm, known as the “Miserere,” is the one most used in the Liturgy of the Hours to express repentance for sin.
*Ps 68:1This is one of the most ancient compositions in the Psalter and has been influenced by Canaanite motifs and representations.
*Ps 93:1The first of several psalms which represent Yahweh as enthroned in heaven.
*Ps 104:1A magnificent hymn of creation, it should be compared with Gen 1. It is remarkably similar to an Egyptian hymn to Aten, the sun god.
*Ps 110:1See note on Ps 2.
*Ps 119:1This great hymn of praise for the Torah, the law of God, is typical of the best Jewish piety after the Exile.
*Ps 120:1The first of the “Songs of Ascents,” or “Gradual Psalms,” that is, those that were recited or sung during the journey to Jerusalem on the occasion of the great pilgrim feasts.
*Ps 137:1This psalm breathes the spirit of sadness and homesickness of the Israelite in exile in Babylon.
*Ps 150:1This exclamation of praise serves as the epilogue to the Psalter.
THE BOOK OF THE PROVERBS
The proverb or saying (mashal) was a typical form of expression in a society that depended to a large extent on oral tradition. Each saying expressed some important truth in pithy and memorable form. The proverbs contained in this book were, of course, regarded as divinely inspired teaching and had a correspondingly weighty authority. The book contains a number of collections of proverbs, two of which are ascribed to Solomon (10:1—22:16 and 25:1—29:27), but it is not likely that all the proverbs in these collections are in fact attributable to Solomon. It is probable that 10:1—22:16 forms the original nucleus of the book.
The general subject of the proverbs is the art of right living. Some points are dealt with in detail, for example, wisdom and folly, justice and injustice, and so on. They are not simply maxims of natural wisdom but presuppose a background of revealed religion and inculcate its principles. Religion is in fact regarded as the basis of all morality. The book was finally edited and put together after the Exile. Back to text.
THE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTES
The name is the Greek rendering of the Hebrew, Qoheleth, which means “one who convenes or speaks in an assembly.” Hence the name:the Preacher. By a literary device the book is ascribed to Solomon, but in fact it was written after the Exile, probably in the third century B.C. There is no knowledge in the book of any idea of rewards and punishments after this life, thus much the same problem is met with here as in the book of Job. Why do the good suffer and the wicked flourish? Belief and experience do not harmonize. Ecclesiastes has to insist on God’s goodness and power and providence even though experience seems at times to show the contrary. He has no solution to offer other than faith in God and trust that he will, in his own way and time, punish evil and reward good; cf. 3:17; 8:12–13. He constantly emphasizes the vanity of created things, which can never satisfy the heart of man. Thus he gives us something more than an unsolved problem and stimulates faith and trust in God in spite of appearances which might influence us to the contrary. Back to text.
THE SONG OF SOLOMON
The full title is “The Song of Songs Which Is Solomon’s.” But, as in the case of other books, it is ascribed to him because of his fame. It is a love song or collection of love songs written probably in the fifth century B.C. The Jews had some doubts as to its canonical character but finally included it in their canon of Scripture, and it has always been accepted by the Christian Church as inspired and canonical.
The interpretations of the book have been of great variety. For our purpose we may summarize them thus:(1) It is purely allegorical. For the Jews it represented the relationship between God and his chosen people Israel, which is often in the Old Testament described under the figure of a marriage. The Christian Fathers, of course, saw it as an allegory of Christ and his Church, describing the mystic union between the two; cf. Eph 5:21–33. (2) Others hold it to be a poem describing human love between bride and groom without seeking to identify actual historical persons. The writer’s purpose was to extol married love and the sanctity of the marriage bond as instituted and blessed by God. There is support in the Old Testament for this view, e.g., in Proverbs and Sirach. (3) Others again, while admitting the above literal sense of the book, say that it is to be taken in the typical sense of the union of God with Israel, and of the union of Christ with his Church.
Catholics tend to adopt the first or third of these positions. Either way, the interpretation can be developed to include the relations between God and the individual soul, as is done by mystical writers, e.g., St. John of the Cross. The Song of Solomon is extensively used in the liturgy, particularly on feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of Holy Women.
Although this is the one book of the Bible where God is never mentioned by name, its presence in the Bible indicates the sanctity of human love. Back to text.
THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON
The book describes the part that Wisdom plays in the life and destiny of men and how we should acquire it, says much about the divine Wisdom, and, in the latter part of the book, relates how the chosen people were guided thereby throughout their history. At times the book proclaims truths not exactly in harmony with beliefs then current, e.g., that suffering is not necessarily the consequence of sin. The book was written in Greek, probably in the first century B.C. Its author is unknown. It is ascribed to Solomon according to a widespread practice of the time of adopting the name of a famous man in antiquity to “father” one’s work. Thus David was known to have written psalms and hence many subsequent psalms were ascribed to him. Moses enacted laws and thus many subsequent laws were ascribed to him which at best could be said to be only indirectly connected with the great lawgiver. So here, Solomon was the “wise man”—and hence it was natural to attribute the book to him. Back to text.
*Wis 1:5, a holy and disciplined spirit:Literally, “a holy spirit of discipline.” Verse 6 seems to suggest here a personification of the Holy Spirit; cf. also verse 7:the Spirit of the Lord.
*Wis 5:13:Vulgate adds (verse 14):“14Such things as these the sinners said in hell.”