1 Samuel 13:19-14:15

19 Now there was no smith to be found throughout all the land of Israel; for the Philistines said, "The Hebrews must not make swords or spears for themselves"; 20 so all the Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen their plowshares, mattocks, axes, or sickles; 21 The charge was two-thirds of a shekel for the plowshares and for the mattocks, and one-third of a shekel for sharpening the axes and for setting the goads. 22 So on the day of the battle neither sword nor spear was to be found in the possession of any of the people with Saul and Jonathan; but Saul and his son Jonathan had them.

23 Now a garrison of the Philistines had gone out to the pass of Michmash. 14 1 One day Jonathan son of Saul said to the young man who carried his armor, "Come, let us go over to the Philistine garrison on the other side." But he did not tell his father. 2 Saul was staying in the outskirts of Gibeah under the pomegranate tree that is at Migron; the troops that were with him were about six hundred men, 3 along with Ahijah son of Ahitub, Ichabod's brother, son of Phinehas son of Eli, the priest of the LORD in Shiloh, carrying an ephod. Now the people did not know that Jonathan had gone. 4 In the pass, by which Jonathan tried to go over to the Philistine garrison, there was a rocky crag on one side and a rocky crag on the other; the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh. 5 One crag rose on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of Geba.

6 Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, "Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the LORD will act for us; for nothing can hinder the LORD from saving by many or by few." 7 His armor-bearer said to him, "Do all that your mind inclines to. I am with you; as your mind is, so is mine." 8 Then Jonathan said, "Now we will cross over to those men and will show ourselves to them. 9 If they say to us, 'Wait until we come to you,' then we will stand still in our place, and we will not go up to them. 10 But if they say, 'Come up to us,' then we will go up; for the LORD has given them into our hand. That will be the sign for us." 11 So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines; and the Philistines said, "Look, Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden themselves." 12 The men of the garrison hailed Jonathan and his armor-bearer, saying, "Come up to us, and we will show you something." Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, "Come up after me; for the LORD has given them into the hand of Israel." 13 Then Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, with his armor-bearer following after him. The Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer, coming after him, killed them. 14 In that first slaughter Jonathan and his armor-bearer killed about twenty men within an area about half a furrow long in an acre of land. 15 There was a panic in the camp, in the field, and among all the people; the garrison and even the raiders trembled; the earth quaked; and it became a very great panic. (1 Samuel 13:19-14:15, NRSV)

On July 6, 2007 (Friday in the week of the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost, references for the week of the Sunday closest to June 29, Year One), comments were repeated with editing and supplement from July 1, 2005 (Friday in the week of the Sunday closest to June 29, Year One); the comments are repeated again here with editing and supplement:

Archaeologists who study the ancient Near East credit the Philistines, who invaded and settled in Palestine and gave it it’s name, with bringing the Iron Age to that part of the world. Iron Age I has been dated from 1200 to 1000 B.C. (IRON AGE (1200 - 550 B.C.E., from Material Culture of the Ancient Canaanites, Israelites and Related Peoples: An Information DataBase from Excavations, a web page maintained by Dr. John R. Abercrombie, of the University of Pennsylvania at http://www.bu.edu/anep/Ir.html, accessed again July 1, 2009; copy and paste the URL). The dates and time frame for the “Iron Age” vary, of course, in different parts of the world. It was brought to the Americas by the Europeans much later. But the Philistines’ control of metal working (1 Samuel 13:19-22) was one of two forms of “Philistine domination” in this period., the other being the Philistine “raiders” (v. 17) (Steven L. McKenzie , NOAB, 3^rd. ed., 2001, on 1 Sam. 13:15b-23)

“Now there was no smith to be found throughout all the land of Israel,” says our author; “for the Philistines said, ‘The Hebrews must not make swords or spears for themselves’ ” (1 Sam. 13:19). The Israelites were even dependent on the Philistines for sharpening their farming implements, for “all the Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen their plowshares, mattocks, axes, or sickles” (v. 20). According to Shimon Bar-Efrat,

The Israelites are inferior to the Philistines not only in number, but also in the quality of their weapons. Not being allowed by the Philistines to manufacture or repair iron tools (the period described coincides with the beginning of the Iron Age [as noted above]), they do not have iron weapons, and are also dependent on the Philistines for the (expensive) maintenance of their agricultural implements. (The Jewish Study Bible, 2004, on 1 Sam. 13:19-22)

“The charge [for maintaining tools],” says the narrator, “was two-thirds of a shekel^e for the plowshares and for the mattocks, and one-third of a shekel for sharpening the axes and for setting the goads^f ” (v. 21). “Two-thirds of a shekel” translates pim (MyP9), a word of which the meaning was discovered when an archaeologist found one marked with the label (MyP9, pim). On the discovery, see the picture and discussion by T. C. Mitchell of the British Museum (Biblical Archaeology, 19xx, p. 74) (which is on the Internet at http://books.google.com/books?id=FKfymK4NjcUC&pg=PA74&lpg=PA74&dq=pim+archaeology&source=bl&ots=gLh054O7FB&sig=9igbXt7r6IygOw7JV6-w68MaEPA&hl=en&ei=EPhLSsmiMJWaMJWRmLMK&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5, accessed July 1, 2009; found by entering “pim archaeology” in Google). According to William L. Holladay, the word means “a weight, pim, ca. 7 ½ gm. = 1/4 oz.” and is found only in 1 Sam. 13:21 (A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, 1971, 10^th corrected impression 1988, s.v. MyP9, pim; cf. NRSV text notes e and f). For the lack of this information, the older translation rendered the verse, “Yet they had a file for the mattocks, and for the coulters, and for the forks, and for the axes, and to sharpen the goads” (v. 21 AV/KJV). In 1 Samuel, the point of this discussion of metalworking, or the lack of it in Israel, is the military superiority of the Philistines over the Israelites–when considered in human terms. “So,” says our narrator, “on the day of the battle neither sword nor spear was to be found in the possession of any of the people with Saul and Jonathan; but Saul and his son Jonathan had them” (v. 22). But the Israelites had been up against superior military forces before, for example Pharaoh’s army, and yet won decisive victories, for the LORD was on their side.

“Now,” says the narrator, “a garrison (bc0ama, matstsav) of the Philistines had gone out to the pass of Michmash” (v. 23), which, as noted yesterday, lay “east of Beth-aven [Bethel]” (v. 5). “The battle begins,” says McKenzie, “with the Philistines moving to the pass on their side of the valley” (op. cit., on v. 23). Jonathan decides to take matters into his own hands. “One day Jonathan son of Saul said to the young man who carried his armor, ‘Come, let us go over to the Philistine garrison on the other side.’ But he did not tell his father” (14:1). In the meantime, “Saul was staying in the outskirts of Gibeah under the pomegranate tree that is at Migron; the troops that were with him were about six hundred men, along with Ahijah son of Ahitub, Ichabod's brother, son of Phinehas son of Eli, the priest of the LORD in Shiloh, carrying an ephod” (vv. 2-3a). For “Ichabod,” says Bar-Efrat, “see 4:21” (op. cit., on 14:3), where this grandson of Eli is given a name related to the loss of the ark of the covenant to the Philistines. “The ephod,” says Bar-Efrat, “was a device used by priests for consulting the LORD” (ibid.). The narrator tells us that “the people did not know that Jonathan had gone” (v. 3b). This lack of awareness perhaps hints at the later incident in which Jonathan, unaware of his father’s curse upon those who eat “before it is evening and I have been avenged on my enemies” (v. 24), tasted the honeycomb (v. 27). But that comes later.

It appears that Saul and his armor-bearer provide the first known example of rock climbing. As the account continues, we are told that “in the pass, by which Jonathan tried to go over to the Philistine garrison (bc0ama, matstsav), there was a rocky crag (flas0,ha-Nwe, šēn-hassēla’ ) on one side and a rocky crag (flas0,ha-Nwe, šēn-hassēla’ ) on the other; the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh” (v. 4). According to Holladay, the phrase translated “rocky crag” is literally “tooth-of rock = rocky spur” (Lexicon, s.v. flas,, sela’ ), compare “sharp rock” (AV/KJV). P. Kyle McCarter Jr. gives foreboding translations of the names of these rocky crags. “The pass by which Jonathan and his companion cross the deep ravine that separates the two battle camps (see v. 16) is flanked by two outcroppings of rock with names that suggest that the passage is treacherous, Bozez (Hebrew, ‘Swampy’ or ‘Gleaming’) and Seneh (‘Thorny’)” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on 1 Sam. 14:4). “One crag rose on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of Geba” (v. 5).

Again, we are told, “Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, ‘Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the LORD will act for us; for nothing can hinder the LORD from saving by many or by few’ ” (v. 6). His confidence–some might call it presumption–shows, and is vindicated in this confrontation. According to Bar-Efrat, “the repetition (see 14:1) serves to resume the thread of the story after the interruption depicting the background (vv. 2-5). The words “Uncircumcised fellows,” he adds, are “a contemptuous way to refer to the Philistines, who, unlike the Israelites and most peoples in the area, were not circumcised. This was considered a disgrace (cf. Gen. 34:14). The armor-bearer says, “I’m in,” or rather, the equivalent. “Do all that your mind inclines to,” he says. “I am with you; as your mind is, so is mine” (v. 7). Jonathan proposes a kind of “putting out the fleece” test (cf. Judges 6:36-40), but without hesitating as Gideon did. “Now we will cross over to those men and will show ourselves to them. If they say to us, ‘Wait until we come to you,’ then we will stand still in our place, and we will not go up to them. But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up; for the LORD has given them into our hand. That will be the sign for us” (vv. 8-10). And the latter proved to be the case. “So both of them showed themselves to the garrison (bc0ama, matstsav) of the Philistines,” we are told; “and the Philistines said, ‘Look, Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden themselves’ ” (v. 11). Earlier, Bar-Ephrat comments on the word “Hebrews,” saying it “is the designation of the Israelites by foreigners and by themselves when talking to foreigners (e.g., Exod. 1:15-16, 19)” (op. cit., on 4:6). In the present context, he says, “the presumptuous Philistines belittle the two Israelites,” whom they call Hebrews (ibid., on 14:11-12). And, as Jonathan had predicted, “the men of the garrison (hbAc0Am0aha, hammatstsāvāh) hailed Jonathan and his armor-bearer, saying, ‘Come up to us, and we will show you something’ ” (v. 12).

So, at this signal, “Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, with his armor-bearer following after him. The Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer, coming after him, killed them” (v. 13). According to Bar-Efrat, “Jonathan climbs the precipice at a difficult, unexpected site, thus surprising the Philistine outpost” (ibid., on v. 13). “In that first slaughter,” we are told, “Jonathan and his armor-bearer killed about twenty men within an area about half a furrow long in an acre of land” (v. 14). As a result, “there was a panic in the camp, in the field, and among all the people; the garrison and even the raiders trembled; the earth quaked; and it became a very great panic” (v. 15 NRSV). The recent Jewish translation says, “. . . The very earth quaked, and a terror from God (Myh9lox$ tDar4H,, cherdath ’ ^elōhîm) ensued” (v. 15b NJPS 1985, 1999). “The very earth quaked,” says Bar-Efrat, means literally, “ ‘the land trembled,’ metonymical for ‘the people trembled’ ” (ibid., on v. 15). The resulting confusion among the Philistines is noticed in the Israelite camp (v. 16), and leads to an Israelite victory, but that comes in the continuation in tomorrow’s reading.

Acts 9:1-9

9:1 Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" 5 He asked, "Who are you, Lord?" The reply came, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do." 7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. 8 Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank. (Acts 9:1-9, NRSV)

On August 22, 2008 (Friday in the week of the Sunday closest to August 17, Year Two), comments were repeated from July 6, 2007 (Friday in the week of the Sunday closest to June 29, Year One), when comments were repeated with some editing and supplement from August 25, 2006 (Friday in the week of the Sunday closest to August 17, Year Two), when comments were repeated from July 1, 2005 (Friday of the week of the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, Year One). The comments are repeated again here with editing and supplement:

Phillip–with a Greek name–has clearly established a “beachhead” for Christianity within the non-Jewish world. He has “proclaimed the Messiah” to the Samaritans with considerable response (Acts 8:5-13), a ministry that was blessed by the Apostles Peter and John (vv. 14-24), and he has converted the Ethiopian eunuch (vv. 27-39). But now Luke turns from successful Christian ministry to it’s opposition. “Meanwhile,” he says, “Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem” (Acts 9:1-2). “Breathing threats and murder,” says Beverly Roberts Gaventa, “fulfills Stephen’s words in 7:51-52 (and see 3 Macc. 2:24; 5:18, 33; 4 Macc. 4:8)” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Acts 9:1-2). “The way,” says Christopher R. Matthews, “stands for Christianity (18:25; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22), but its origin is uncertain” (NOAB, 2^nd ed., on Acts 9:2). According to F. F. Bruce, “Similar words are used in a religious sense elsewhere; a specially close parallel is the use of the Hebrew word for ‘way’ in the Zadokite Work and other documents of the Qumran community to denote the membership and life-style of that community” (The Book of Acts, NICNT, rev. ed., 1988, p. 181, on Acts 9:2, with reference to CD 1.13; 2.6; 1QS 9.17-18; 10:20-21).

Some raise questions about the details Luke presents here. “Acts,” says Matthews, “connects Paul with Jerusalem (7:58; 9:13, 26), although Paul claimed he was unknown by sight in Judea (Gal. 1:22-23). In Galatians, of course, Paul has just reported a visit “to Jerusalem to visit Cephas” (v. 18) and “James the Lord’s brother” (v. 19). “The churches of Judea” did know about Paul (Saul), for “they only heard it said, ‘The one who formerly was persecuting us is not proclaiming the faith he once tried to destroy’ ” (Gal. 1:22-23). That does not necessarily imply that he was not known to Gamaliel (22:3) or the high priest. Gaventa describes the situation in regard to Saul’s trip to Damascus:

The report of Saul’s proposed trip to Damascus, about sixty miles northeast of the Sea of Galilee, assumes that Christianity has spread there; it also moves the persecution of the church well beyond Jerusalem. Historically, it is unclear how the high priest in Jerusalem would have had authority over synagogues at Damascus, which suggests that Luke may be exaggerating Paul’s activity for dramatic effect. (loc. cit.)

For this question, Bruce has an answer.

When the Jewish state won its independence under the Hasmonaean dynasty of ruling priests (142 B.C.), the Romans, who patronized the new state for reasons of their own, required neighboring states to grant it the privileges of a sovereign state, including the right of extradition. A letter delivered at that time by a Roman ambassador to Ptolemy VIII of Egypt concludes with the demand: ‘If any pestilent men have fled to you from their own country [Judaea], hand them over to Simon the high priest, so that he may punish them according to their law’ (1 Macc. 15:21). In 47 B.C. Julius Caesar confirmed those rights and privileges anew to the Jewish nation (although Judaea was no longer a sovereign state), and more particularly to the high-priesthood . [Footnote 5 refers to ‘Josephus, Ant. 14:192-95.] Luke’s narrative implies that the right of extradition continued to be enjoyed by the high priest under the provincial administration set up in A.D. 6. The followers of The Way whom Saul was authorized to bring back from Damascus were refugees from Jerusalem, not native Damascene disciples. The charge against them may have been complicity in Stephen’s offense against the temple. (op. cit., pp. 180-181, on Acts 9:2)

Paul (Saul) himself, puts it this way. “You have heard, no doubt, of my earlier life in Judaism. I was violently persecuting the church of God and was trying to destroy it” (Gal. 1:13). But his trip to Damascus was dramatically interrupted. “Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus,” says Luke, “suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him” (Acts 9:3); compare “a great light from heaven” (22:6), and “a light from heaven, brighter than the sun” (26:13). Saul, of course, was completely taken by surprise. “He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ ” (v. 4). According to Gaventa, “Saul’s encounter contains several features often associated with divine appearances and commissions: light (4 Macc. 4:10); falling to the ground (Ezek. 1:28; Dan. 10:9); the use of the double vocative, as in Saul, Saul (Gen. 22:11; 46:2; Ex. 3:43; 1 Sam. 3:4, 20)” (op. cit., on vv. 3-4). “Why do you persecute me?” she adds, “identifies Saul’s persecution of disciples as persecution of Jesus himself (see Lk. 10:16)” (ibid.). According to Bruce, the Lord addresses Saul in Aramaic (op. cit., p. 182, on vv. 3-6). “ ‘In the Hebrew speech,’ says Paul in 26:14 . . . Except in the Apocalypse, the ‘Hebrew’ language in the NT regularly means Aramaic. G. H. Dalman reconstructs the Aramaic wording as šā’ûl šā’ûl mā ’att rād^epinnî (Jesu-Jeshua, E.T. [London, 1929], p. 18). Was Aramaic spoken because it was Jesus’ mother tongue or because it was Saul’s mother tongue?” (ibid., footnote 14).

Saul responds to the voice, asking, “Who are you Lord?” and the reply says, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting” (v. 5). According to Gaventa, “Saul’s address of Jesus as Lord does not necessarily imply faith, since the Greek word kyrios [kuvrioV] can also function as the respectful address ‘sir’ ” (op. cit., on v. 5). But Bruce, who provides his own translation, renders the question, “Who are you, my lord? ”and explains, “Saul probably discerned a divine quality about the voice as it spoke to him; hence ‘Who are you, my lord?’ may be a better rendering of his response than ‘Who are you, sir?’ But he was not prepared for the reply to his question” (op. cit., pp,. 182-183, on vv. 3-6). The voice continues. “But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do” (v. 6).

The profundity and influence of Saul’s experience here can hardly be overstated. Paul himself puts it on a par with post-resurrection appearances of Jesus to the other Apostles and eye-witnesses. After listing five post-resurrection appearances of Jesus (1 Cor. 15:5-7), Paul adds, “Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me” (v. 8).

Luke continues the narrative of Saul’s experience. “The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one” (Acts 9:7). As to why the others did not experience what Saul experienced, “the more usual explanation,” says Bruce, “is that, while the others heard a sound (like the crowd in John 12:29 which ‘said that it had thundered’ when Jesus’ prayer was answered by a heavenly voice), they did not distinguish an articulate voice” (ibid., p. 185, cf. pp. 4 -5, on v. 7). “Saul got up from the ground,” says Luke, “and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him to Damascus” (v. 8). Saul, says Bruce, was “blinded by excess of light” (ibid., p. 185, on vv. 8-9). According to Gaventa, “Saul’s blindness is consistent with Luke’s use of sight and its absence elsewhere (see Lk. 2:30; 4:18; 24:16, 31; Acts 13:11; 28:27)” (op. cit., on v. 8). This story will continue in tomorrow’s reading as Saul is visited by Ananias, sent by the Lord. But for now, the reading concludes, saying, “For three days he [i.e., Saul] was without sight, and neither ate nor drank” (v. 9). “There is no need,” says Bruce, “to regard his abstinence as an early instance of fasting before baptism; it was probably the result of shock.” And in a footnote, he adds, “The practice of fasting before Christian baptism is first attested in Didachē 7:4 and then in Justin, First Apology 61.2 (loc. cit., and footnote 29).

Luke provides two more accounts of Saul’s conversion experience, in scenes where the apostle Paul speaks to the people in the temple at Jerusalem (Acts 22:4-21) and to King Agrippa in the presence of Bernice and the Procurator Porcius Festus (26:9-18). Paul himself describes the experience with emphasis on his call to be an apostle to the Gentiles (Gal. 1:15-16) in words which some see as reflecting accounts of the calling of Jeremiah (Jer. 1:5; cf. Isa. 49:1). It was a remarkable transformation on the personal level, and most significant for the future of the Christian movement.

Luke 23:26-31

26 As they led him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming from the country, and they laid the cross on him, and made him carry it behind Jesus. 27 A great number of the people followed him, and among them were women who were beating their breasts and wailing for him. 28 But Jesus turned to them and said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For the days are surely coming when they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.' 30 Then they will begin to say to the mountains, 'Fall on us'; and to the hills, 'Cover us.' 31 For if they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?" (Luke 23:26-31, NRSV)

On July 6, 2007 (Friday in the week of the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost, references for the week of the Sunday closest to June 29, Year One), comments were repeated with editing and supplement from July 1, 2005 (Friday in the week of the Sunday closest to June 29, Year One). The comments are repeated here with some editing and supplement:

Readings for today, Saturday, and Monday are drawn from Luke’s account of the Crucifixion of Jesus. These and parallel passages are included in a table in the separate file, The Crucifixion of Jesus. A table outlining these references is in a file called Crucifixion Outline. Texts and comments on the crucifixion based on Matthew’s version are presented in the Archives of the comments for July 28-31, 2008 (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in the week of the Sunday closest to July 27, Year Two). Texts and comments on the crucifixion based on Mark’s version are presented in the Archives of the comments for September 7, 8 and 10, 2007 (Friday and Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to August 31, Year One, and the following Monday).

Yesterday’s reading concluded with Luke’s statement that “Pilate gave his verdict that their demand should be granted” (Lk. 23:24), that is, the demand of the crowd that he release Barabbas (v. 18) and crucify Jesus (vv. 21, 23), the crowd, that is, including “the chief priests, the leaders, and the people” (v. 13). So, we were told (yesterday) that “he released the man they asked for, the one who had been put in prison for insurrection and murder, and he hand Jesus over as they wished” (v. 25; cf M. 15:15; Jn. 19:16). Only Matthew included the report of Pilate’s washing his hands and claiming innocence in the matter (Mt. 27:24) and the response of “the people as a whole,” who answered “His blood be upon us and on our children” (v. 25).

After this verdict, the other Gospels that the soldiers mocked Jesus with a crown of thorns, a purple or scarlet robe, the mocking ascription, “Hail, king of the Jews!” (Mk. 15:18; Mt. 27:29; Jn. 19:3) and beating (Mk. 15:16-20a; Mt. 27:31a; Jn. 19:2-3). Although Luke omits this report, he has already mentioned mocking before Herod (Lk. 23:11), and Pilate’s assertion, “I will therefore have him flogged and release him (Lk. 23:16, cf. v. 22), details not found in the other Gospels. “As they led him away,” says Luke, “they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming from the country, and they laid the cross on him, and made him carry it behind Jesus” (Lk. 23:26). “The cross,” here, says Marion Lloyd Soards, refers to “the horizontal cross-beam” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Lk. 23:26). “Cyrene [was a] city in Cyrenaica (Modern Libya) which had a thriving Jewish community of settlers from Egypt from Ptolemaic times (late fourth century B.C.). . . . People from Cyrene were known for their patriotism and their ties to Palestine (Acts 6:9)” (Harper’s Bible Dictionary, rev. ed., 1996, s.v. Cyrene). Luke’s reference to Simon of Cyrene being forced to help carry Jesus’ cross has parallels in Mark and Matthew (Mk. 15:20b-21; Mt. 27:31b-32), but the balance of the paragraph (vv. 27-31) is reported only by Luke. Simon, who “was coming from the country” is called “a peasant [who] had perhaps move back to Judea from the Diaspora Jewish community in Cyrene, west of Egypt” (Richard A. Horsley, NOAB, 3^rd ed., on Mk. 15:21). Mark calls him “the father of Alexander and Rufus,” who “apparently later joined the movement” (ibid.). Horsley adds, “This Simon in effect replaces Peter, whose original name was Simon, and who had just proven incapable of ‘taking up his cross’ by denying Jesus instead of himself” ([Mk.] 8:34; 14:66-72).

Along the via dolorosa (i.e., the “way of suffering,” that is, Jesus’ way to the cross), ”A great number of the people followed him, and among them were women who were beating their breasts and wailing for him” (v. 27). According to David L. Tiede, revised by Christopher R. Matthews, “wailing for him [is] perhaps an allusion to Zech. 12:10-14 (see also 2 Sam. 1:24; Jer. 9:17-22)” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Lk. 23:27). The Zechariah passage says “the inhabitants of Jerusalem . . . when they look on the one whom they have pierced,, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn” (Zech. 12:10). The 2 Samuel passage is from David’s lament over the deaths of Saul and Jonathan. But Jesus turns and addresses the women, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children” (v. 28). In saying that, he clearly anticipates the disaster that would befall Jerusalem about forty years later. “For the days are surely coming,” says Jesus, “when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed’ ” (v. 29). He thus pictures the deprivation and despair of the city under siege. “Then,” he adds, “they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us’; and to the hills, ‘Cover us’ ” (v. 30). Tiede and Matthews say, “Jesus’ prophetic oracle of judgment compares closely with the dire effects of siege warfare described in 19:41-44” (ibid., on vv. 29-30). According to Soards, Jesus’ saying in verse 30 incorporates wording from Hosea 10:8 (op. cit., on Lk. 23:30). Jesus presents a proverb, “For if they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?” (v. 31). To this proverb, Soards compares “If the righteous are repaid on earth, / how much more the wicked and the sinner!” (Prov. 11:31), and says that it, Jesus’ proverb, “may mean either that if the innocent Jesus meets such a fate, then a worse fate awaits the guilty Jerusalem, or that if such takes place with Jesus present and active, what will happen when he is no longer present? (Cf. 1 Pet. 4:17-18)” (ibid., on v 31).

As noted above, Luke’s account of the crucifixion will continue in tomorrow’s reading.

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net