Seeing another layer to these puns Marvin Sweeney shows readers in this post that the names of the individuals in Genesis 25-35 reflect both geographical and cultural realities that existed and were understood anciently by the hearers of these stories. Later when these stories were textualized, many of these namesContinue Reading

Metonymy Gordon Thomasson lays out some excellent arguments for metonymic naming in the Book of Mormon. I have written elsewhere regarding the punning taking place in the Book of Mormon as well as in the Bible. One possible example of metonymy is the term Mosiah. Names in scripture certainly conveyedContinue Reading

Nephi 11-14 An Overview of Nephi’s Vision What is the point of 1 Nephi 11-14?  This is not meant as a history lesson- this is a story about us and how we relate to God and his prophets, and more importantly- Jesus Christ. Teaching the history as related by NephiContinue Reading

 ἀπεκρίθησαν αὐτῷ Ἰησοῦν τὸν Ναζωραῖον λέγει αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς, Ἐγώ εἰμι  εἱστήκει δὲ καὶ Ἰούδας ὁ παραδιδοὺς αὐτὸν μετ᾽ αὐτῶν – John 18.5 They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am. And Judas, who turned Jesus over to them (those coming to arrest Jesus), stood with them. (my translation) Notice how Jesus identified himself to his enemies in John 18.5. He told them, “…IContinue Reading

This letter is the most affectionate of all of Paul’s letters. Philippi was the capital of ancient Macedonia, in northern Greece. According to Acts 16, it was the first city in Europe in which Paul founded a Christ centered group of people after leaving Asia Minor in the late 40’sContinue Reading

Colossians According to the text, when “Paul” wrote Colossians, he was in prison (Colossians 4.3, 18). It was “written” by Paul and Timothy, and it mentions Epaphras as one who brought the gospel to Colossae, a city in the Lycus Valley with Hierapolis and Laodicea. The text of Colossians containsContinue Reading

John Tvedtnes and David Bokovoy shared some thoughts regarding a few passages in Helaman 15 that I want to share. In verses 1-4 we read that, “the people of Nephi hath he loved, and also he hath chastened them… but my brethren, the Lamanites hath he hated because their deedsContinue Reading