Wearers Of The Ephod

The Apostle Paul states in 1 Corinthians 11: "But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God." This is not a call to dictatorship. Nor is it a declaration of the superiority of man. It is simply a doling out of responsibility. It is the husband and the father's responsibility to lead the family spiritually. What does this Biblical headship look like? What does it mean? How can a man fulfill the duties and responsibilities found therein? In this first book in the series, "Priest, Prophet, King" the author takes us on a journey to discover how the Biblical role of Priest relates to the man's roles and spiritual responsibilities as husband and father. There are a plethora of ideologies across denominations within Christendom and other religions as to what a priest should be. Unfortunately, the Biblical idea of a priest has been tarnished by many of these denominal and religious views. By definition, the essence of priesthood is to be a go-between from God to man and from man to God. Priests are mediatory agents between humans and God. In the Mosaic Law, it was only the High Priest who could enter into the presence of God on behalf of the people. Now in the New Testament dispensation, we are a kingdom of priests (Revelation 1:6). Each individual Christian has access to God on his or her own. However, the fact remains that man, as the spiritual head of the household, is still the one who represents the family to God and God to the family. In fact, there were certain garments that priests in the Bible were required to wear. These garments distinguished them from the rest of the people and identified them as the Priests ordained by God. One part of these garments is something called an "ephod." Upon this ephod were stones with the names of all the tribes of Israel engraved upon them. Therefore, when the priest went into the Most Holy Place, he carried the names of the people with Him. Thus we, as the priests of our homes, are ever to carry the names of our family members before the Lord. We must be "Wearers of the Ephod," by accepting responsibility to fulfill this God-ordained duty on behalf of our families. This book will help you learn how to step into your God-ordained position of priest of your home. Are you ready to be a "Wearer of the Ephod"?

This is the first exhaustive study of the Urim and Thummim since 1824, and in this book Van Dam sets out to rectify that lack of attention. He investigates all of the biblical data concerning this enigmatic oracular means of high-priestly revelation and its connection, in the historical books of the Old Testament, with the common phrase "to enquire of Yahweh/God." After surveying the history of interpretation and the treatment of the terms in the various versions and translations, Van Dam examines the implications of similar oracular devices and priestly dress within the larger cultural context of the ancient Near East. He places the Urim and Thummim within the context of divine revelation and human inquiry and the corollary probibition of divination in ancient Israel. He concludes that the breastpiece functioned as a pouch to hold the Urim and Thummim, which therefore clearly were tangible objects. Van Dam traces the use of this oracular instrument through the early monarchy under David--from the time of Joshua through the early monarchy under David--and its apparent disappearance by the time of the "classical" prophets, where a shift to primarily verbal oracles occurs. Concurrent with his study of the history of the oracle, Van Dam interacts with current discussion on the nature and process of God's revelation to humankind.

An excellent, single-volume Catholic dictionary of the Bible written by respected Catholic Biblical scholar John L. McKenzie S. J. and originally published in 1965. Fr. John L. McKenzie, S.J., (1910-1991) was an acclaimed Catholic Scripture scholar who wrote numerous books and was the first Catholic scholar on the Divinity School faculty. He was at one time president of the Catholic Biblical Association of America and president of the Society of Biblical Literature. His Dictionary of the Bible is the best one-volume orthodox Catholic Bible dictionary available in the English language—it’s an essential reference tool that should be on the shelf of every good Catholic library. A standard reference work, providing concise descriptions of biblical characters, terms, and places, as well as pertinent illustrations and charts, this is “one of the most up-to-date and reliable dictionaries of the Bible in any language.…Magnificent in scholarship, ample in learning, frank and unhesitating in facing all the difficulties and problems, sympathetic with the varieties and diversities of other views” (Religious Education).

In this volume a number of scholars from Israel, the USA, and England have joined forces with the well-known Utrecht University Research Unit "The Cultural Milieu of Early Christianity" to investigate in an unprecendently interdisciplinary fashion how sacred books functioned in pagan, Jewish, and Christian circles. The 16 essays cover a wide range of topics including a discussion of emergence of canonical scriptures in late antiquity, an investigation of parallels between exegesis of Homer by the Greeks and that of the Bible by the Jews, a study of the rise of Virgil's Aeneid to the status of "canonical" book; a discussion of the use of sacred books as instant oracles; an investigation of the role of the Bible in polemics between Jews and Christians; an analysis of the wide variety of quotation formula's used by New Testament authors, a discussion of the role of biblical interpretation in the thought world of Jesus' brother, James; an investigation of the function of Scripture in the midrash Aggadat Bereshit, and other topics.

This HCOT volume completes Houtman's monumental commentary on the Book of Exodus. It covers the legal texts (the decalogue and the 'Book of the Covenant') and most of the Sinai narrative. Beside a detailed and deliberate interpretation it provides an invaluable guide to the literature and the issues. The treatment of the 'tabernacle chapters' is of particular interest. The corresponding sections about the instructions for and the making of each part of the tabernacle are discussed together and placed in side by side columns in the translation. 'This excellent sudy will certainly make history' - M. Vervenne in Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses 68 (1992) 409. '...a splendid work...' - J.W. Wevers in Bibliotheca Orientalis 52 (1995) 743. 'The learning assembled in this massive work will be invaluable to students of Exodus' - G.I. Davies in Vetus Testamentum 48 (1998) 572. Cornelis Houtman is Professor of Old Testament at the Theological University Kampen.

This commentary on Samuel focuses especially on the qualities of leadership displayed by the major characters of the book. In addition, it provides an analysis of the synchronic, literary structure of the book of Samuel as well as a new theory concerning the composition of the book.