Nielsen’s Nook

Dr. Peter Enns, former all-star professor of Old Testament at Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, was interviewed at 10:00 am (Central) today by Public Radio WHYY’s Marty Moss-Coane.

Dr. Enns’ now infamous and scholarly (and dare I say it … pastoral) book, Inspiration and Incarnation: Evangelicals and the Problem of the Old Testament seeks to approach difficulties in the Old Testament (e.g., two drastically different Hebrew Manuscripts of Jeremiah) and in terms of the Incarnation. Ultimately, Dr. Enns seeks to uphold the mystery of the divine and human union of Scripture as the basis for its trustworthiness in faith and practice.

Dr. Enns blogs at a time to tear down | A Time to Build Up.
Listen to the interview with WHYY’s Marty Moss-Coane:

[Download]

Addendum:

About 41 minutes in, an atheist caller named Jim calls and makes the statement that if he would have had the paradigm of scripture that is presented in Inspiration and Incarnation, he wonders if that would not have saved his faith. Pete does a very pastoral job of encouraging Jim toward the God revealed in the Bible.

Commentary

[a] Isaiah 12:2 appears to have the greatest correlation with Hebrews 2:13, reading אֶבְטַ֖ח וְלֹ֣א אֶפְחָ֑ד in the MT. I will trust [or rely upon] and not be afraid (author’s translation). This MT rendition of Isaiah 12:2 helps in understanding the semantic scope. Hebrews 2:13 is a direct quotation of Isaiah 12:2 LXX which reads, πεποιθὼς ἔσομαι ἐπ̓ αὐτῷ. I will depend upon him (author’s translation).

[b] This is a clear quotation of Isaiah 8:18 LXX, ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ καὶ τὰ παιδία, ἅ μοι ἔδωκεν ὁ θεός, καὶ ἔσται εἰς σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ Ισραηλ παρὰ κυρίου σαβαωθ, ὃς κατοικεῖ ἐν τῷ ὄρει Σιων. Behold, I and the children which God has given me, are even the signs and wonders in the house of Israel from the Lord of Hosts, who dwells in Mount Zion (author’s translation).

[c] Keeping in mind that the New Testament writers had not the versification and chapter divisions we currently employ in the current day, it would seem plausible that this quotation is only partial because it is intended to draw the larger passage that it begins to mind. In the context of Isaiah, this would be something like, God who has been hiding his face from Zion (Isaiah 8:17) has given us hope in sending his Son; for behold, unto us a child is born (Isaiah 9)!

Commentary

[a] Compare Τίνι γὰρ εἶπέν ποτε τῶν ἀγγέλων in v 5 with πρὸς τίνα δὲ τῶν ἀγγέλων εἴρηκέν ποτε here in v 13. This seems to be a sort of formula for appeal. That is, what God said about or to Jesus was never spoken to or about the angels. Alternate translation here in v 13: “To which of the angels has he said.”

[b] Quoting Psalm 109:1 LXX, Εἶπεν ὁ κύριος τῷ κυρίῳ μου Κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου, ἕως ἂν θῶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν σου. The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” (author’s translation). It is paramount to notice the way that the writer of Hebrews is employing this quotation in the epistle. Here King David’s Lord is Jesus Christ, who is greater than the angels.

[c] ἕως ἂν θῶ Here, because of the subjunctive θῶ, ἕως requires ἂν. As such it denotes “that the commencement of an event is dependent on circumstances.” (BAGD, 334)

[d] Compare with what is written 9 chapters later, “¹²But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, ¹³waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet.” (Heb 10:12-13 ESV) This passage references the same concepts but with different Greek syntax, ἐκάθισεν ἐν δεξιᾷ τοῦ θεοῦ, τὸ λοιπὸν ἐκδεχόμενος ἕως τεθῶσιν οἱ ἐχθροὶ αὐτοῦ ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν αὐτοῦ. [Christ] sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet (author’s translation). Hebrews 10:13 emphasizes the passive nature of the “enemies” passing into footstool status. Grammatically, and especially when compared with Hebrews 1:13, we see that 10:13 contains a divine passive. As such it is God who will set the world to rights while Christ actively waits (interceding on our behalf) at the right hand of the Father.

[e] λειτουργικὰ Here, “the angels are λειτουργικὰ πνεύματα εἰς διακονίαν ἀποστελλόμενα διὰ τοὺς μέλλοντας κληρονομεῖν σωτηρίαν. They are ordained to ministry, i.e., the διακονία of believers. Hence the use is not cultic, and is independent of the LXX.” (TDNT, 4:231)

[f] διὰ τοὺς here the use of διὰ + accusative gives a sense of “for the sake of” or “on behalf of.”

[g] μέλλοντας (μέλλω) When used with an infinitive, and most frequently an active infinitive as here, it may be rendered “about to” speaking of the immanent future. However, here it is likely “serves simply as a periphrasis for the future.” (BAGD, 501)

Commentary

[1] κατʼ ἀρχάς is not a direct quote of the Creation account in Genesis 1:1 LXX (Ἐν ἀρχῇ); however, this is clearly what is in view conceptually.

[2] The use of metaphor (foundations) and anthropomorphism (preincarnate hands) underscore the incarnational nature of scripture in which God demonstrates with iterative mercy his love for us in condescending to us. He is not beyond even mythic language to reveal himself to the world. In other words, we don’t believe that God took out a divine trowel, after pouring cosmic concrete, and smoothed out the bottom layer of a flat earth. Scripture is not teaching that. What scripture is teaching is that 1) the Triune God made all  that is, and 2) as such, He (specifically here - the Son) has ultimate authority, lordship, over all things. For an engaging discussion of the nature of God’s loving condescension to us in scripture see, Peter Enns, Inspiration and Incarnation.

Commentary

[1] Directly quoted from Psalm 2:7 LXX.

[2] Directly quoted from 2 Samuel 7:14 LXX.

Translation

2 For the fire (which made the appearance of a vaulted ceiling, [1] like a ship’s sail being filled by wind) completely enclosed [2] the body of the martyr. It was there in the midst of the flames, not as burning flesh, [3] but as gold and silver being smelted in a furnace. For we also noticed such a fragrance like incense rising [4] from a thurible [5] or some other precious perfume.

[1] καμάρας vault, vaulted ceiling, arch. This word appears only once in all of scripture and does not seem to appear frequently in general. Psalm 40:22b (LXX) reads ὁ στήσας ὡς καμάραν τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ διατείνας ὡς σκηνὴν κατοικεῖν, … [It is the Lord] who erected the heavens as a vaulted ceiling and stretched it out as a tent to indwell (author’s translation).

[2] BAGD renders κύκλῳ περιετείχισεν as completely surrounded. καμάρας is imagined in a three dimensional way (i.e. as a vaulted ceiling with supporting walls and floor), so we render κύκλῳ περιετείχισεν as completely enclose (or perhaps envelope).

[3] ἄρτος ὀπτώμενος, ἢ ὡς (”a loaf in the oven or like”) is noted by Lightfoot as being questionable, perhaps “nothing more than Irenæus’ own comments.” (Lightfoot, Joseph Barber, and J. R. Harmer. The Apostolic Fathers. (London: Macmillan and Co., 1891) 195). Consequently, we are opting for the shorter reading as preferred and omitted this phrase from our translation.

[4] πνέοντος breathing out, giving forth (BAGD, 679).

[5] λιβανωτοῦ (λιβανωτός) incense or censer. Here we break with previous translations. Lightfoot renders λιβανωτοῦ πνέοντος as “wafted odour of frankincense,” which is to us aesthetically less pleasing. While Lake and Holmes do a much better job aesthetically rendering the phrase as “the scent of incense,” we feel translating λιβανωτός as thurible (i.e., censer used in religious worship), more specifically connects with the worship tropes running throughout the work (e.g., §14.2) and, perhaps, more explicitly the eschatological worship of Revelation 8:3-5.