Reading for October 8th

 Read Lamentations 1.11b--22. in 1.11b-22: Jerusalem herself speaks. The speaker changes at the end of v. 11, as the woman Jerusalem speaks in the first person. She repeats themes of the first speaker: She is shamed, and the devastation is punishment from God. In verses 13-15: Net, fire: Punishments are described generally (Ps 10.9; Isa 63.3). The weight of Israel's sin is compared to a yoke worn by captives of war (Isa 9.4). In verse 16; The lack of a comforter is a repeated theme in the book. In verse 17; The voice shifts back to third person briefly. Zion (the mountain on which Jerusalem is set), Jacob (the ancestor of the Israelites), and Jerusalem are used a synonyms. Filthy things is the menstrual uncleanness of 1.9. In verse 18; The voice of Jerusalem returns, acknowledging her sin yet lamenting the pain she has experienced. In verse 20: Jerusalem's lament resembles that of Jeremiah (Jer 8.18-9.1). In verses 21-22: Again, concerned with being shamed in the face of others, Jerusalem asks that they, too, be treated according to their deeds. Day you have announced refers to the Day of the Lord, envisioned as a day of vindication against enemies (Isa 13.6-16). Comments or Questions..

Reading for October 7th

 Read Lamentations 1.1-11a. In 1.1-11a: A poet laments Jerusalem. As in many prophetic books (Hosea, Jeremiah, Ezekiel) Jerusalem is personified as a woman. In a striking series of contrasts, she who was great is now destitute like a widow; once a princess, she is now a vassal, the underling in a political relationship. In verse 2: Political allies are called Jerusalem's lover's ( Hos 2.7). In verse 3: Exile, the conquering strategy of the neo-Babylonian empire, involved moving large groups of people out of their homelands into new locations. In verse 4: Public activities (festivals and gates, where people gathered) have ceased. Priests and young girls are among the many categories of people that the book shows as suffering. In verse 5; The book repeatedly claims that the Lord has made her suffer. In verses 8-10: Nakedness may have a sexual connotation (Lev 18.6). Uncleanness refers to menstruation (Lev 15.16-24). These conditions intensify her shame, considered by the author to be as significant as physical suffering. The immediate mention of precious things and the invasion of her sanctuary, while on the surface referring to the Temple, may have sexual connotations. Comments or Questions..

Reading for October 6th

 Read Colossians 4.7-18. In 4.7-18: Epistolary closing. A reemphasis on the importance of maturity and commendation of persons firmly entrenched in the ethos of the new dominion. In verses 7-10: Tychicus, Aristarchus, see Acts 20.4. In verse 14: See Philem 23. In verse 15: Nymphia: Some manuscripts treat Nymphia as a female name; others as a male name, perhaps because of a scribe who did not consider the possibility of a woman's owning a house, though the patronage of women in early Christianity is generally accepted. In verse 16: The letter from Laodicea is lost, though Maricon, an early Christian writer who died around 160 CE, thought it was our letter to the Ephesians. In verse 17: Archippus, see Philem 2. In verse 18: A scribe would have written the letter, with the author approving the dictation in his own hand. Comments or Questions..

Reading for October 5th

 Read Colossians 3.18-4.6. In 3.18-4.1: Household codes governed life within the extended family. See Eph 5.22-6.9; 1 Tim 2.8-15; 6.1-2; Titus 2.1-10; 1 Peter 2.13-3.7. In verse 5: Making the most of time, see Eph 5.16. In verse 6: Seasoned with salt, carefully or wisely selected. see Mk 9.49-50; Mt 5.13. Comments or Questions..

Reading for October 4th

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE HOPE

In 2.20-4.6: Life with Christ governs regulations about food and drink, and relations with other Christians, family members, and outsiders. An initial transition (2.20-23) reveals the practical implications of death with Christ. Another transition (3.1-4) commends the life raised with Christ, followed by a vice list (3.5-11), a virtue list (3.12-17), and household duties (3.18-4.6). 

 Read Colossians 2.20-3.17. In verse 1: Right hand of God, see Ps 110.1. In verses 5-11: On the use of vice lists in Paul, see Rom 1.29-31; Gal 5.19-21. Hellenistic teachers often used vice and virtue lists to challenge their students. In verse 11: Barbarian, non-Greek. Scythian, a wild person, no longer will there be different ethnic nor groups and subgroups. The author commends ethnic and class equality but not equality of the sexes as found it Gal 3.28. In verse 16: see Eph 5.19. Comments or Questions.. 

Reading for October 3rd

 Read Colossians 1.24-2.19. In 1.24-2.19: A personal witness and warning. An autobiographical sketch describes the church's maturation (1.24-2.5) and leads to a warning against deviating from the truth (2.6-19). In 1.24: A certain amount of suffering is assumed to be necessary (see 1 Thess 3.3) before the end can arrive. Completing ... Christ's afflictions, any suffering brings the end sooner. In verses 26-27: The mystery is Christ in you, the image of Christ growing in you. In verse 29: Toil, struggle, the effort to bring about the community's maturity. See 1 Thess 2.9. In 2.6: Live your lives, "conduct" your lives, see 1.10. In verses 8-9: The warning: although the heresy appears as wisdom because of its ascetic and ritualistic practices, Christ's death and resurrection are sufficient to bring the believers lives into the new dominion. In verse 8: Takes you captive, false teachers are like robbers or kidnappers. In verses 11-12: Putting off, buried with him in baptism, baptismal images joined with spiritual circumcision to describe entry into the new life ((see Gal 3.27). In verse 14: Record, a note of debt. In verse 15: Disarmed, stripped of power. Roman emperors led  captives in a public triumphal procession. In verse 17: Shadow and substances, a familiar contrast in Greek though (see Plato's Republic 514a-518b). In verse 18: Angels worship, worship offered to angels or worship offered by angel, probably the latter. Comments or Questions..

Reading for October 2nd

 Read Colossians 1.15-23. in 1.15-23: A hymn to the universal Christ and comment on his redeeming work. Christ the cosmic agent of creation, has reconciled creation's warring elements (vv. 15-20), and the reconciled must remain faithful to their early teachings to ensure maturity (vv. 21-23). In verses 15-20: The hymn's origin is unknown, but if not Christian, it may bee an adaption from a Greek mystery religion, a Jewish text about the Son of Man and the end times, or Hellenistic Jewish wisdom text like Prov 8.22-31 or Sir 24.1-22. It easily divides into two: Christ as the agent of creation (vv. 15-18a) and Christ as the agent of redemption (vv. 18b-20). In verse 16: Christ's role in creation is like the role of Wisdom (see Prov 8.22-26; Sir 24.9). In verse 18: Head of the body, see 2.19; Eph 1.22-23. In verse 20: Reconcile, restore to friendship from enmity. See 1.22; Rom 5.10; 1 Cor  7.11; 2 Cor 5.18-21; Eph 2.16. In verses 21-23: A direct exhortation to the recipients: God has reconciled them and they will be blameless before God if they are steadfast. In verse 21: Estranged, alienated or unfamiliar with something. See Eph 2.12; 4.18. Comments or Questions..