Motivator Blog (Page 4)

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Esther

Introduction to Esther Author and Title Like many OT books, Esther is an anonymous work. The only hints of its origin are the references it contains to some of the key events of the story being committed to writing in either official court records (2:23; 6:1) or edicts

Job

Introduction to Job Author While Job is one of the most profound books of the Bible, its anonymous author can be known only through reading between its lines. Certainly he can be numbered among “the wise” (cf. Prov. 24:23), given his fondness for proverbs, which he quotes to develop

Psalms

Introduction to The Psalms Title The book of Psalms, or Psalter, has supplied to believers some of their best-loved Bible passages. It is a collection of 150 poems that express a wide variety of emotions, including: love and adoration toward God, sorrow over sin, dependence on God in desperate circumstances,

Proverbs

Introduction to Proverbs Author and Date Proverbs itself mentions Solomon (reigned c. 971–931 b.c.) as author or collector of its contents (1:1; 10:1), including the proverbs copied by Hezekiah’s men (25:1). There are also two batches of sayings from a group called “the wise”

Ecclesiastes

Introduction to Ecclesiastes Author, Title, and Date The traditional English title comes from the book’s heading in the Latin Vulgate translation (Liber Ecclesiastes) and is an anglicized version of the Greek and Latin renderings of the speaker’s designation in Ecclesiastes 1:1 (Gk. ekklēsiastēs; Hb. Qoheleth). The Hebrew

Song of Solomon

Song of Solomon

Introduction to The Song of Solomon Author and Date The questions of who wrote the Song of Solomon, when it was written, how to read it properly, and what it means as part of Scripture are intertwined, and have occasioned many disagreements. Jews and Christians have traditionally taken 1:1

Isaiah

Introduction to Isaiah Author and Title The opening words of the book explain that this is “the vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz” (1:1). Unlike Jeremiah, who discloses aspects of his inner personal life (e.g., Jer. 20:7–12), Isaiah says little about himself. Isaiah 6 records

Jeremiah

Introduction to Jeremiah Author and Title Determining the authorship of the book of Jeremiah is complicated by several factors: the variety of types of literature found in the book, the differences between the Hebrew and Greek versions of the book, and the difficult lives Jeremiah and his scribe Baruch lived.

Lamentations

Introduction to Lamentations Author and Title In the Hebrew Bible, Lamentations is called Ekah (“How”), after the first word in the book. This word occurs in 1:1, 2:1, and 4:1 to emphasize how much Jerusalem has suffered. The book does not identify its author, which should keep

Ezekiel

Introduction to Ezekiel Author and Title Ezekiel is both the name of the sixth-century b.c. prophet and the title of the book that records his preaching. Ezekiel’s name (Hb. Yekhezqe’l) means “God strengthens” or “May God strengthen,” appropriate for a prophet called to proclaim a message of

Daniel

Introduction to Daniel Author and Title The book of Daniel, named after and written by Daniel in the sixth century b.c., records the events of his life and the visions that he saw from the time of his exile in 605 (1:1) until the third year of King

Hosea

Introduction to Hosea Author and Title The opening verse, “The word of the Lord that came to Hosea, the son of Beeri,” identifies Hosea with other OT prophets and follows the same general pattern of naming the book after its author (cf. Joel 1:1;Jonah 1:1; Mic. 1:

Joel

Introduction to Joel Title and Author “Joel, the son of Pethuel,” whose name means “Yahweh is God,” gives the book its title. Little is known of Joel except what is learned from the book itself. His references to Judah (3:1, 6, 8, 18, 19, 20) and Jerusalem (2:32;

Amos

Introduction to Amos Author and Title The first verse of the book identifies it as the work of Amos, one of “the shepherds of Tekoa.” Nothing else is known about Amos apart from what he says about himself in 7:14–15. There Amos insists that he is not a

Obadiah

Introduction to Obadiah Author and Title The superscription for the book identifies the genre as a “vision,” a prophetic revelation from God spoken through his prophet “Obadiah.” Unfortunately, the only thing known about this prophet is his name (a common one in the OT), which means “one who serves Yahweh.

Jonah

Introduction to Jonah Author and Title The title of the book is the name of the main character, Jonah. The book is anonymous, and there are no indicators elsewhere in Scripture to identify the author. The foundational source for the book was likely Jonah’s own telling of the story

Micah

Introduction to Micah Author and Title Rather than being identified by his father or family (cf. Joel “son of Pethuel” [Joel 1:1]; Jonah “son of Amittai” [Jonah 1:1]), this prophet is identified by a location, “Micah of Moresheth” (Mic. 1:1; for Moresheth-gath, see 1:14). It was

Nahum

Introduction to Nahum Author and Title The book is named after its author, the prophet Nahum of Elkosh. His name means “comfort.” The message given to him by God, that Nineveh would be destroyed, brings comfort to Judah. The location of Elkosh is uncertain, although the date (see below) and

Habakkuk

Introduction to Habakkuk Author and Title Little is known about the prophet Habakkuk. He was likely a contemporary of Zephaniah and Jeremiah, and possibly even of Ezekiel and Daniel, but none of the other prophets mention him. His name appears twice in the book (1:1; 3:1), and he

Zephaniah

Introduction to Zephaniah Author and Title While the originator of the words of this book ultimately was Israel’s God (“the Lord”), the prophetic intermediary who delivered them to Judah was Zephaniah, after whom the book is named. Little is known about him apart from his name and pedigree. That

Haggai

Introduction to Haggai Author and Title The book of Haggai contains messages delivered by the prophet Haggai, and thus it is reasonable to consider Haggai its author. The name Haggai, which means “festal,” promotes the conjecture that his birth occurred during a festival of Israel, or perhaps links his name

Zechariah

Introduction to Zechariah Author and Date The prophet Zechariah was a priest, the son of Berechiah and grandson of Iddo. He was a member of a prominent priestly family who returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel in about 538 b.c. (Neh. 12:4). Zechariah began his ministry in 520 b.

Malachi

Introduction to Malachi Author and Title The Hebrew name “Malachi” means “my messenger,” or perhaps “messenger of (the Lord)” if “Malachi” is a shortened form of “Malachiah” (2 Esd. 1:40). Based on the lxx and Targum Jonathan, some scholars have argued that “Malachi” in 1:1 ought to be

Matthew

Introduction to Matthew Author and Title Since none of the four Gospels includes the names of their authors in the original manuscripts, they are all technically anonymous. This is not surprising, since the authors likely compiled their Gospel accounts for members of their own churches, to whom they were already

Mark

Introduction to Mark Author and Title Widespread evidence from the early church fathers affirms that Peter passed on reports of the words and deeds of Jesus to his attendant and writer, John Mark. Of particular significance in this regard are the brief statements by Papias (Bishop of Hierapolis; c. a.