Historical Setting For 1 And 2 Samuel

Dr. John Vonder Bruegge is the sort of man one may envision dressed in a plush velvet robe, seated in a giant leather chair, encompassed by shelves of ancient leather books, and snacking on cheese and crackers. A Biblical scholar by trade, and a resident of a Dutch community by consequence, Dr. Vonder Bruegge has a unique story to tell. Dr. Vonder Bruegge has wealth of knowledge with a slight pension for performance. He can be found educating throngs of his diligent Biblical pupils at Northwestern College. Dr. Vonder Bruegge is passionate about his job as an educator and a Biblical scholar, engaging his students to grapple with tough questions, even in a small Dutch community like Orange City.

Due to the nature of the emerging country, not every settlement had a sufficient amount of people to carry on the functions of a town. This affected many aspects of life, including religious observance. In Samuel’s first letter she talks about there is no Jewish cemetery in all of Virginia at the time (39), and how the neighboring community of Richmond there was so few Jews that they could not gather a much-needed quarter. For Jews who had either emigrated to America or whose ancestors had, it had to be deeply troubling to finally reach what they believed to be the new promise land, and not be able to fully observe their religion. It was not that there was not freedom to observe your own religion; it was the fact that not every settlement had a sufficient amount of Jewish people to be able to practice their religion as needed. It was a struggle for many different towns because due to the lacking Jewish population they did not have a Rabbi to be able to bless their food, which impeded on many of their practices. In her second letter she goes into detailing how at times she did not even know when Shabbat was, as well as the other holidays. It should be noted that acquiring a Jewish calendar must have been difficult, because on Samuel’s second letter it does not provide a date, leading us to believe that in between her first letter and the second there was a difficult in acquiring basic

They didn’t have the proper farmland and the same animals. Furthermore, this digressed the way their civilization spread and grew. Diamond researched and established that certain lands were blessed only due to their geographical location. The earliest civilization began in the Fertile Crescent in the Middle East. This land had rich soil and a variety of animals, which made the land promised and geographically lucky. As time passed people living in the area learned new ways to keep their civilization alive. The Fertile Crescent became known as the “Promised Land” and a way of survival was introduced as farming and the domestication of

One of the cultures of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia developed into successful civilizations is by their water sources. In document 1, the river Nile in Egypt flooded every year, which gave the land around it soft fertile ground, great for planting crops. Most people lived near the river. In document 2, the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which was also called the Fertile Crescent, provided food, transportation, and plants. They were especially populated since the area had deserts and mountains. Another reason is their rulers. As stated in document 3, the ancient Egyptian looked at their ruler, the pharaoh, as one of their gods in a human form, serving them well and deciding what’s best for the country. Quoting document 4, the people of Mesopotamia

The civilization that flourished in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Palestine were located in river valleys or along the Mediterranean coast. These civilizations developed highly complex cultures that shared many common characteristics. Some of the characteristics that they shared were justice, cultural diffusion, architecture and inventions. Because of these characteristic they achieved and contributed a lot to society as well as to future civilizations.

In Samuel's early life he was born into a strong religious family Samuel’s dad was a brewer who was into local politics as a full grown male he would change the future. As a little boy he studied greek and the latin language.At only age 14 he was exeptied into harverd and graduated 1740. After graduation he was still was undecided about what to do for his career. For several years after he was still struggling about what career path. Samuel did not want to work for his dad so he had a loan of money to start his own business. Samuel did not manage his money and ended up working for his dad.After his first wife died in 1757, he married Elizabeth Wells in 1764. Adam's second wife turned out to be a good manager. His luck had changed, for he was about to move into a political circle that would offer political opportunities unlike any in his past.

Mesopotamia was the land of four primary civilizations: the Sumerian, the Akkadians, the Babylonian and the Assyrians. The Hebrews, like the Akkadians, belong to a group of people known as Semites and from there we can see the influence of Mesopotamian culture in some of the Hebrews traditions. During the same time, civilization began in Egypt, and there can be seen a distinct difference in the social, religious and political system from Mesopotamia; that the link between the two

Ch. 26 " Saul came after David again when he was in Hachilah " David and Abishai went down to where Saul was sleeping and took his Spear and water instead of killing Saul " David and Saul talked again, and Saul ended up going back to his place while David went his way Ch. 27 " David fled to Gath, and asked Achish for land that he may dwell in and he was given Ziklag " David invaded the Geshurites, the Gezrites, and the Amalekites and left no man or woman alive, then returned to Achish Ch. 28 " The Philistines rose up against Israel " Saul enquired the Lord about the battle, but He did not respond " Saul went to a woman to bring Samuel back from the dead and Samuel told Saul that he and his sons will be delivered to the Philistines the following

The rivers of these countries contribute to the overall strength of these cultures, but the landforms surrounding each country determined the amount of protection each had to utilize. The region surrounding Mesopotamia lacked the natural boundaries that provided protection for the Egyptians. The people of Mesopotamia were continually being attacked by Barbarians and other enemies. Their trade routes, which were depended upon for survival, were constantly being raided. This pattern of abuse from outside forces continued to create a somber attitude in the Mesopotamians. Resources were being spent in the many continual wars waged against their enemies. Egypt was protected by the great deserts and the sea on either side. Egyptians did not continually have to fight off invaders. They were able to direct their energies to more enjoyable activities. Thus, the Egyptians had another reason to be satisfied with their way of life. This caused a sense of peace and contentment amongst the people.

To truly comprehend a biblical passage, it is important to have knowledge of the ‘hermeneutics which enables an understanding of the locus of meaning and the principles of bible interpretation’ . The audience needs to have a clear interpretation of the biblical passage which includes ‘content and unity of the whole of Scripture if the meaning of the sacred texts is to be correctly worked out’ , this supports the argument that all worlds of the text are equally important. ‘Biblical passages are often taken out of context and interpreted to support a particular viewpoint of justify a particular action’ . It is imperative to note that ‘in order to discover the sacred authors' intention, the reader must take into account the conditions of their

Macdonald, (2010) suggested that the bible is a cultural work of art because it is used in storytelling, preaching, drama and visual posters. The bible tells God’s story in how he created the world, the fall, redemption and the new creation. The bible has a sequence of events, songs, proverbs, prophetic books, writing of wisdom and letters. In the bible there is a comparison between connecting scripture and constructing culture. It is able to change one’s life and one’s culture because

Vivid images, from visions, to detailed explanation and accounts of places and events, to symbolic imagery used to explain parables, or teach and encourage the first century churches are driving forces within the Biblical text. Metaphorical language, by virtue of the fact that it preserves the literal meaning of the symbol, while intending an analogical secondary meaning, is able to communicate profound truths about reality, mainly by creating an alternative, symbolic way of seeing and understanding the world. (Liubinskas, Susann. 404) Throughout the New Testament of the Bible the most commonly used images are the: body of Christ, and vine imagery. These images work together to create a powerful example of the necessity for unity among individual believers, and that unity tying them Christ.

Elwell, Walter A., and Barry J. Beitzel. Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988. Print.

"This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots…. and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest… He will take the best of your fields and

This is a summary of a No Travel Seminar on a Study of the Gospel of Matthew. The seminar was lead by Dr. John Dunaway who is a professor at NTS and has served as a pastor for over 50 years. After his brief self-introduction, he began his presentation with an overview of the Gospel of Matthew, followed by a more elaborated narrative summarizing the gospel, and he finished with brief closing remarks. Throughout this enthusiastic presentation, Dr. Dunaway made reference to remarks by multiple prominent commentators, which added substance to his narrative, even though none were explicitly stated upfront.