Studying lectionary texts? Here are some starting places for study at ATLA this week. If you are the graduate of an accredited U.S. theological school, you may have free access to these articles through your school. Check ATLAS access options. You can find full lists of ATLAS recommended articles for this week at The Text This Week's page for this week's texts.
Proper 15A / Ordinary 20A / Pentecost +9
August 14, 2011
Isaiah 56:1-8
- Simundson, Daniel J., "Comfort and Challenge: Prophetic Preaching in Pentecost," Word & World, 1996. (Section on this text begins on page 371.)
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“Certainly this section of Isaiah is full of references to Israel as a light to the nations, proclaiming an inclusiveness that wants to bring together before God those who had previously been excluded (whether outcasts within Israel or because they were foreigners).”
Hoop, Raymond de, "The Interpretation of Isaiah 56:1-9: comfort or criticism?" Journal of Biblical Literature, 2008.
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“In general, however, it must be concluded that Isa 56:1-9 should not be read solely as a comfort for those possibly excluded from the community but should especially be considered an implicit criticism of the leaders of the community, who, in the view of the author/editor of the passage, hypocritically emphasized only those elements in the Torah that suited themselves.”
Genesis 45:1-15
- Huddlestun, John R., "Divestiture, Deception, and Demotion: the Garment Motif in Genesis 37-39," Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 2002.
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Abstract: “In a previous issue JSOT, Victor Matthews treats the garment motif in the Joseph story, but does not include the Judah/Tamar story (Gen. 38) in his analysis. I argue that this chapter is more concerned with garments or personal objects than any in the Joseph narrative, and therefore deserves examination alongside chs. 37 and 39. In all three chapters, garments play a pivotal role in plot development as markers of status and authority by which identities are revealed or concealed. The motif is manifest in a variety of ways: deception through loss or removal of garments, deception through forced recognition, and authority signified via possession of garments or personal items. The Judah/Tamar episode in ch. 38 demonstrably shapes in various ways the reader's understanding of garment-related events in these chapters.”
- Jacobs, Mignon R., "The Conceptual Dynamics of Good and Evil in the Joseph Story: An Exegetical and Hermeneutical Inquiry," Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 2003.
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Abstract: “This article examines the dynamics of good and evil as represented in the Joseph story (Gen. 37-50). It examines the story's plot, the larger conceptual framework of the narrative's Pentateuchal setting, as well as the semantic indicators and associated attitudes/behaviors qualified as good and/or evil. The main objectives of this article are: (1) to identify the main issues within the story's concept of the dynamics of good and evil; (2) to promote a more thorough consideration of the place of Joseph and God in those dynamics; and (3) to generate hermeneutical inquiries about the dynamics of good and evil using the insights gained from this examination—inquiries that are more relevant to contemporary discussion (e.g. understanding human atrocities, forgiveness, and reconciliation).”
- Kaminsky, Joel S., "Reclaiming a Theology of Election: Favoritism and the Joseph Story," Perspectives in Religious Studies, 2004.
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“This examination poses a challenge to a number of recent treatments of the same literature that see the idea of divine favoritism (and its reflection in the favoritism exhibited by certain patriarchs and matriarchs towards one special child) as unfair and therefore morally and theologically retrograde…Rather, as will be demonstrated in the following analysis, the Joseph story offers a critique of the human rebellion that occurs when others persecute the elect, as well as when the elect misuse or fail to accept their special status and the responsibilities it entails.”
Romans 11:1-32
- Charles, Gary W., "Between Text and Sermon: Romans 11:1-10," Interpretation, 2004. (See also, Romans, issue focus for Interpretation, 2004.)
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“I am often amazed at how many Christians forget that Jesus was a Jew, as was the apostle Paul. Romans 9-11 then is not a casual philosophical discourse on issues of election and covenant; they are Paul's concerted, complex, and not always clear attempt to wrestle with the paradox that at least one Jew sees Jesus as Lord, while most of his people do not.”
Matthew 15:21-28
- Meier, John P., "Matthew 15:21-28, Expository Article," Interpretation, 1986.
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“If the great commission is ever fulfilled, it will mean not the imperialistic triumph of the present form of the church but rather its death, followed by the resurrection of a genuine world-church, catholic in a sense we can hardly dream of. The one thing that would remain the same would be the church's Lord: the Son of David who is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8). He is already at work in Tyre and Sidon; we obtuse disciples have yet to catch up.”
- Thompson, Mark C., "Matthew 15:21-28, Expository Article," Interpretation, 1981.
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“This passage, then, appears to be a pivotal one for Matthew's intentions. The woman is an unlikely candidate to be the ideal follower of God, yet that is how Matthew pictures her. She is a Gentile who knows Jesus well enough to use the right terms ("Lord" and "Son of David"). The woman is contrasted with Peter who fails to understand what Jesus is saying in the previous passage (vs. 16-17) and with the other disciples who attempt to chase her away. Therefore, we learn that discipleship is not automatic, even when someone has been chosen by Jesus to be a disciple; instead, a true believer is one who has absolute faith in Jesus.”
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