Pericope Study

Epiphany 2B

Presenter: Richard M Burgess

Collect / POD for Epiphany 2

Lord God, you showed your glory and led many to faith by the works of your Son. As he brought gladness and healing to his people, grant us these same gifts and lead us also to perfect faith in him, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Lesson I: 1 Samuel 3.1-10, (11-20) [NRSV]

3 Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.

[2] At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room; [3] the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. [4] Then the Lord called, “Samuel! Samuel!” and he said, “Here I am!” [5] and ran to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. [6] The Lord called again, “Samuel!” Samuel got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” [7] Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. [8] The Lord called Samuel again, a third time. And he got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. [9] Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, 'Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.' “ So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

[10] Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” [11] Then the Lord said to Samuel, “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make both ears of anyone who hears of it tingle. [12] On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. [13] For I have told him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. [14] Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be expiated by sacrifice or offering forever.”

[15] Samuel lay there until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. [16] But Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” He said, “Here I am.” [17] Eli said, “What was it that he told you? Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also, if you hide anything from me of all that he told you.” [18] So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. Then he said, “It is the Lord; let him do what seems good to him.”

[19] As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. [20] And all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet of the Lord.

Structure / Outline

     3.1-10       The Lord gets Samuel’s attention

     3.11-14     Samuel’s calling per se

     3.15-18     Samuel fearfully tells Eli about his experience

     3.19-20     Samuel grew up and became known as a prophet

Hertzberg has a good summary of this passage in his commentary on Samue:

it is already clear that there has not been a man like (Samuel) since the days of Moses. Samuel should be regarded in this light. Joshua was Moses’ successor, the ‘servant of God’. But he is never called prophet, nor is he a priest. Here is more than a Joshua. Here, too, we have something more than the prophets of later times, who stood in the midst of the people as the spokesmen of God, but in other respects were still on their periphery. Samuel unites in his person the three offices of the Christ who is to come, prophet, priest and king. It is no wonder that the shadow of this particular figure falls over the ‘Books of Samuel’ which bear his name. Nor is it by chance that in the passage which describes the growth of the boy Jesus (Luke 2.42) we find the same words which describe the growth of the young Samuel and that, as has been remarked above, the thanksgiving of the mother of Jesus also makes use of words of the thanksgiving of the mother of Samuel. The Bible regards him as being to a special degree one of the forerunners of Christ, and does so with justification. (Hertzberg, Hans Wiulhelm, tr JS Bowden The Old Testament Library: I & II Samuel Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1964. p 43.)

3.3      the lamp of God had not yet gone out Probably a light to light the temple during the night which had not run out yet, the point being that it was still night, not yet morning.

3.10    ‘I am about to do something’ davar Word, affair, thing, word of God. (With different vowels, it can also mean “bubonic plague”. Probably not the case here, but one never knows. :) )

3.17    ‘do so to you and more also’ Or more literally, “do to you intensely”, ie, deal with severely.

Note the contrasts of light / darkness, hearing / not hearing correctly, understanding / not, and innocent obedience and wanton disobedience.

Samuel, like Isaac, Samson, Jesus and John the Baptist, etc, had been both heralded in advance and born under unusual, even miraculous, circumstances. Also, note that both Hannah & Mary sang nearly identical songs of praise to God for the birth of their sons. (1Sam 2.1-10 & Lk 1.47–55)

How does Eli fit in all of this? Specifically, a) with regard to Samuel mistaking the Lord’s voice for Eli’s and Eli recognizing this before Samuel, and b) with regard to the oracle of judgement upon Eli & his sons. (See 1Sam 2.11-17, 22-36 re Eli’s sons.)

Psalm 139.1-6, 13-18 [NRSV] / (LBW & BCP)

To the leader. Of David. A Psalm.

139 O Lord, you have searched me and known me.

[2](1b) You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

you discern my thoughts from far away.

[3](2) You search out my path and my lying down,

and are acquainted with all my ways.

[4](3) Even before a word is on my tongue,

O Lord, you know it completely.

[5](4) You hem me in, behind and before,

and lay your hand upon me.

[6](5) Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

it is so high that I cannot attain it.

[13](12) For it was you who formed my inward parts;

you knit me together in my mother's womb.

[14](13) I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works;

that I know very well.

[15](14) My frame was not hidden from you,

when I was being made in secret,

intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

[16](15) Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.

In your book were written

all the days that were formed for me,

when none of them as yet existed.

[17](16) How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

[18](17) I try to count them--they are more than the sand;

I come to the end--I am still with you.

Note that the NRSV and Lutheran Book of Worship / Book of Common Prayer have different versifications. The NRSV numbers are in brackets and the LBW / BCP numbers in parentheses, et, [2](1b). THE LBW / BCP translation is available online in several formats at http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/.

Apart from the obvious time & attention span issues, why was this Psalm chopped up the way it was? How does it affect the meaning or message?

How seriously are we to take the superscription ‘Of David’? Note the images v5 ‘hem’; v13 ‘knit’, ‘womb’; and v15 ‘woven’. These are more related to the life of a woman than a man. A clue to authorship?

What is the significance of Ps 139.15-16? What does it mean that God knew you before you were? How does this affect our calling and our response or the lack thereof? Our support of others in their calling? Cf 1Sam 3.13-14; Jn 1.48b.

Lesson II: 1 Corinthians 6.12-20 [NRSV]

[12] “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are beneficial. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. [13] “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food,” and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is meant not for fornication but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. [14] And God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power. [15] Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Should I therefore take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! [16] Do you not know that whoever is united to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For it is said, “The two shall be one flesh.” [17] But anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. [18] Shun fornication! Every sin that a person commits is outside the body; but the fornicator sins against the body itself. [19] Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? [20] For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.

Structure / Outline

(Adapted from Talbert, Charles Reading Corinthians – a Literary and Theological Commentary on 1 & 2 Corinthians New York: Crossroad, 1992. p 29-35.)

6.12-18a – Part I

6.12-14     Assertions (3) with Pauline Counter Assertions (3)

6.12a              All things are lawful for me

6.12b                    But not all things are helpful

6.12c              All things are lawful for me

6.12d                    but I will not be enslaved

6.13                body is temporary => irrelevant to eternal spirit

6.14                      but resurrection makes body eternal too

6.15          Pauline Arguments (2)

6.15                Bodies are members of Christ. Prostitute Christ? NO!

6.16-17           Sexual Union incompatible w/ spiritual union w/ Christ

6.18a         Concluding Exhortation: Shun Immorality!

6.18b-20 – Part II

6.18b        Assertion: Sin (porneia) is outside the body

6.18c              Counter Assertion: is to body => against created order

6.19          Pauline Arguments (2)

6.19a              Body is a temple and must be kept holy

6.19b-20a  We are bought by Christ => not our bodies to control

6.20b        Concluding Exhortation: Glorify God in your Body.

Do you think this is a correct interpretation of Paul’s argument? (Nb: The insertion & counter insertion form is called “diatribe” and is one of Paul’s favorite forms of argument throughout his letters.) Are there other outlines or structures that might be more useful?

It would appear Paul is fighting some form of body - spirit split. How might this be relevant today?

6.13-14 the Lord Ie, Christ, not YHWH.

6.18 sin outside the body / against the body itself Cf Jesus on thoughts being sin.

What constitutes “prostitution”?

What might be examples of lawful but not beneficial things in our contemporary communities?

John 1.43-51 [NRSV]

[43] The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” [44] Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. [45] Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” [46] Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” [47] When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” [48] Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” [49] Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” [50] Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” [51] And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

Structure / Outline

1.43-44     Jesus calls Philip

1.45-46     Philip talks to Nathanael

1.47-51     Nathanael meets Jesus himself

1.47-48           Jesus has extraordinary knowledge of Nathanael

1.49                Nathanael makes his confession about Jesus

1.50-51           Jesus tells of even greater faith and greater signs

This passage is the 4^th day in Jesus’ “pre-ministry” in Jn 1.19-51:

     Day 1  1.19-28     John the Baptist in Bethany

     Day 2  1.29-34     John the Baptist sees Jesus and confesses “Lamb of God”

     Day 3  1.35-42     Jesus calls Andrew and Peter

     Day 4  1.43-51     Jesus calls Philip and Nathanael

These are followed by the wedding feast at Cana, Jesus first “public” appearance.

1.44    ‘Bethsaida’ City at northmost point of the Sea of Galilee, about 3 mi ENE of Capernaum.

1.45    ‘we have found’ Not true – Jesus found Philip in 1.43.

1.47b  ‘an Israelite in whom there is no deceit’ Jesus sees Nathanael as honest, unlike Jacob / Israel (Gen 27.35-36), and worthy to recognize Jesus as the fulfillment of scripture.

1.49    Compare Nathanael’s confession here with that of Peter in Mt 16.16 || Mk 8.29 || Lk 9.20.

1.50    ‘fig tree’ There is no scholarly agreement on the significance of the “fig” tree, if, indeed, there is any significance.

1.51    ‘heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending’ As happened to Jacob in Gen 28.12.

Rel = Relevance; d = Hymn of Day; p = Ps 139; o = 1Sam 3; e = 1Cor 6; g = Jn 1p

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Copyright © 2004 by Richard M Burgess                                      latest revision: December 31, 2004