How to read the Filament Bible: Reflect

This is part ||| in a series about the Filament Bible.

So, after you've read the chapter, found it in the app, and explored the "Study" section, the next step is to Reflect.

The second section of the app is very simple. Once you open the "Reflect" page, you'll see a list of articles on various themes.

These are short articles, but they are so worth reading! They'll ask questions and give perspective on different themes found throughout the chapter, book, and the Bible itself.

Then, after your time of reflection, it will be time to "See". 

How to read the Filament Bible: Study

This post is part II in a series on Tyndale House's new Filament Bible and corresponding app.

I wanted to share a little about what the app provides for readers, so I'm going to use John 3 as an example.

First, you need to find the page in the app. It will look like this:

When you open the first section, called "Study", you'll find a section for verse-by-verse notes.

You'll see an overview of the book of John as a whole.

You'll see a list of all the characters listed on the page.

You'll see a page with themes found on that page.

I spend most of my time in this section. First, I read the chapter as a whole, and to get an idea of what it says. Then I go verse by verse, looking throughout the wealth of notes provided. This often leads to extra study in cross-references from other places throughout the Bible. Then, I move on to the overview, people, and themes.

But the study isn't over yet! Next, I need to "Reflect".

The NIV Filament Bible

In April of this year, I started reading through the book of John. I was so excited about it, and decided to take it slow.

I'd just made it to chapter three, and Nicodemus' conversation with Jesus on Easter Sunday. I woke up that morning and got on Instagram, to see an ad from Tyndale House on Instagram. They were advertising a new Bible called the Filament Bible, and the ad was for a trial-run in the book of John.

What's interesting about this Bible is that it is connected to an app with the same name. You can scan the pages of the Bible and find that exact page in the app, where you will be given historical, cultural, theological, and informational sections.

There are videos from the Bible Project, as well as interactive maps, charts, graphs, and other informational tools, alongside of articles and verse-by-verse information pulled straight from concordances. 

Of course, I HAD to get this Bible because I knew it would enhance my study of John, and ultimately, the Bible. After I purchased it and started reading it, I saw that its information is adding another layer to my personal studies. The book of John now in my personal Bible is psychedelic from all my notes!

As a traveler, this Bible is amazing because you can carry the Bible and not have to carry all the other books to go along with it—it's all in the app. I honestly will always prefer books over screens, because I like to interact directly with the text by underlining and highlighting, but this Bible is a great tool for travelers or a challenged budget (because you don't have to go out and buy all those resources yourself).

The AD Chronicles by Bodie and Brock Thoene

So... after the Zion Covenant, the Zion Chronicles, and the Zion Legacy by Bodie and Brock Thoene, comes the A.D. Chronicles—not only in the order they were written, but in the intended order to be read.

There are 12 books in this series, and what's so interesting is that each one has a title that corresponds with the number First Light, Second Touch, Third Watch, etc. That makes it easy to keep track of where you are in the series, haha!

What's so fascinating is that this series is set back in first century Jerusalem, in the time of Jesus. How the authors connect it to WWII Europe and the Six Days' War of 1948 in Jerusalem is for you to discover. 

Click here to immerse yourself in the world of Jesus, the disciples, and first century Israel!

Honor and Shame in the Zion Legacy Series

So, before moving on, I wanted to address something else I found so fascinating in the Zion Legacy Series by Bodie and Brock Thoene.

Throughout the first 3 books, there's a sub-story that is so significant in terms of culture and honor/shame in the Middle East (again, spoilers ahead... but this series was published in the early 2000s, so it's not like it's new).

Basically, there are two Arab brothers, orphan boys, Dauod and Gaman, who are fighting against the Jews. They hate the Jews as a people group, but they are friends with Yacov and Shaul (Yacov's dog).

When Gaman is seriously injured, the boys go to the only safe place: a convent where the hurt and dying are being treated. Gaman undergoes surgery by a Jewish doctor, who saves his life. Before Dauod knows that Doctor Baruch is actually a Jew, he says that he shall be Dr. Baruch's son and will honor him as such for what he did for Gaman.

Then, Dauod discovers that Dr. Baruch is a Jew. But it doesn't matter—Dauod has already made his vow.

For the rest of the series, you see his struggle as he thinks of himself as and introduces himself as Dauod, the son of Baruch. He finds himself fighting on behalf of the Jews to honor to his father and his vow.

I LOVED this sub-story because it is so different from Western culture. We'd say, "well, I didn't have all the facts, so I don't have to keep this". But Dauod didn't do this. Even as a young boy, he knew the seriousness of his vow that it meant leaving his band of rebel boys/teens and acting on behalf of the people group that he had been fighting against (even in light of his friendship with Yacov).

What do you think of this example of honor/shame and the importance of family in the Middle East? How does it differ from your culture? How can it shed light on things we read in the Bible?

The Zion Legacy Series by Bodie and Brock Thoene

So, I just finished reading the next series in the ongoing story written by Bodie and Brock Thoene: the Zion Legacy Series. (Caution- spoilers ahead if you haven't read the first 2 series fully)

Zion Legacy picks up where the Zion Covenant Series and the Zion Chronicles Series leave off, except a few weeks later—3 weeks after Israel's Independence day in 1948. You see the same characters from Zion Chronicles: Moshe and Rachel Sachar, Rabbi Lebowitz, Yacov, and Shaul, David and Ellie Meyer, Ehud Schiff and others.

But, they are joined from some familiar faces from Zion Covenant: Jacob and Lori Kalner, Alfie Hadler, and more.

I will say, that through all 3 of these series', there are times that it's difficult to follow the action because there's so much fighting; so much war—which is realistic. It's just easy to get lost in it all because there are times, especially in Zion Chronicles, where it seems just like battle after battle after battle.

But this 3rd series, Zion Legacy, is very different (especially the last 3 books). And there's a FASCINATING sub-story that I wanted more and more off. Rabbi Lebowitz takes Moshe Sachar down into the tunnels to a secret room that is INCREDIBLE and is filled with scrolls that have been kept in hiding since the beginning of Jerusalem. Basically, only 1 man knew at a time that this room existed throughout history, passing the knowledge on to a younger man when they were near death.

Oh man- read this series so that you can go through the tunnels along with these men and spend time in this secret chamber!

Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes: Get This Book!

That's it for our series on Kenneth E. Bailey's Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes! I hope you enjoyed this brief glimpse of the depth of these cultural studies available to us from the time of the Early Church.

As always, I only am featuring just part of it because I so strongly believe that if someone went to the trouble to write a book, then it should be purchased and enjoyed by each reader. So, please, check it out!

I wish there were a book by Bailey for each book of the New Testament, but unfortunately (for us!) he passed away in 2016. He did write some other books, however, and they are definitely on my list to check out!

Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes: 1 Corinthians 13

In the first 2 posts of this series of Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes, I mentioned that Corinth was a town known for its brass works, dating back to 4th century B.C. In fact, earlier in the book, author Kenneth E. Bailey says that many of the craftsmen likely escaped Corinth during its destruction in 146 B.C. and returned to restart the guilds when the city was reborn.

Bailey cites a source that says the bronze work was performed in the center of the city and then tells a personal story of visitor's brass-maker's market in Aleppo, Syria, in the 1980s. Bailey says that at first, he asked for directions, but soon he didn't need them anymore—the hammering and clanging of more than 200 craftsman led him there. "Even though all of this craftsmanship was taking place in open air, the noise was deafening," Bailey remembers, "To talk to any of the skilled workmen, I was obliged to bend down, place my lips within 2 inches of the artisan's ear, and show at the top of my voice. The noise levels were ear-splitting."

In the next paragraph, Bailey points out that "as tentmakers, Paul, Aquila, and Priscilla would have needed to be present in the marketplace in order to pursue their trade and contact customers. Enduring the high-pitched racket of banging brass would have been a common experience for all Corinthians every time they entered the market" (pages 360-361).

After reading this and imaging the clanging, hammering, and shouting going on, how does the imagery in this verse ring even louder? 

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am banging brass or a clanging cymbal" 1 Corinthians 13:2 (NIV)

WOW! I can hear it now, the difference, the cacophony of noise, in a way I couldn't before!

Paul continues the brass metaphor in verse 7, with the list that begins with love covers all things (the NIV says "always protects", but the verb used here is stego, which has to do with the connection of keeping water in (or out). In fact, the noun form of this verb means "roof", because of its meaning of being waterproof. "As brass manufacturers, the Corinthian metal workers would have been careful to make pitchers, bowls, and drinking cups that did not leak (page 376).

Finally, in verse 12, there's another brass-work metaphor, this time having to do with mirrors—which, in the ancient world, were made of brass. They had an interesting practice in that when someone ordered a mirror, the artist would offer to etch the face (or back) of the mirror along the lines of the customer's interests. Discovering that the buy worshipped Poseidon (for instance), the brass worker would obligingly lightly etch the face of Poseidon (and perhaps other gods) on the mirror. Then, upon rising in the morning and looking into the mirror, you would have the pleasure of 'seeing yourself among the gods.... But alas, the mirror soon tarnished and the mind games quickly grew old. The person was not really among the gods, and they did not talk to him or her" (page 381).

So, how does knowing the above custom, shed new light on the setting of this verse?

"For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known." 1 Corinthians 13:12 (ESV)

I love how Paul used contextual examples in each of his letters that his readers would have immediately picked up on and recognized. It would have shown his intimate knowledge of their world (and struggles) as well as made it so understandable in a time when it all seemed like uncharted waters.

I don't know about you, but now I can't stop hearing the clanging brass when I think of this chapter. What a powerful image of how not to live!

Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes: Feet

In Chapter 4.3 of Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes, Kenneth E. Bailey talks about "Gifts and the Nature of the Body" as portrayed by Paul in 1 Corinthians 12:1-30.

In verse 15, Paul starts talking about feet in His picture of the body of Christ, saying, "If the foot should say, 'because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body...."

Bailey points out here in Middle Eastern traditional culture, feet and all shows were considered to be unspeakably unclean. This is why God commands Moses to remove his shoes when at the burning bush, and why the Psalmist insulted Edom by saying "upon Edom I will cast my shoe" (Psalm 60:8; 108:9). This continues in the Gospels as well, when John the Baptist says he is unworthy to untie Jesus' sandals in Mark 1:7. In fact, it was considered rude to show the sole of a shoe at home or in public. "Across the Arabic-speaking Middle East, the very words foot and shoes are four-letter words. A speaker must apologize to an audience before pronouncing them" (page 341)!

So, it's not an accident that Paul opens with the foot as an image of lowliness. What's interesting to me here is just how shocking the word foot is here in this culture. I knew it was considered dirty and unclean, because with walking everywhere, feet were always dirty. But it's easy to forget that when reading the text as a Westerner. I didn't know, however, the shocking nature of it, that a speaker would apologize for saying the word in public!

How does this affect how we read this passage about the body of Christ (and other mentions of feet in the Bible)? 

Right now I'm thinking of "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of them who bring good news" (Isaiah 52:7) and how Satan will be crushed under Jesus' feet (Genesis 3:15). Or what about when Boaz' relative gave the responsibility of redeeming the land (and Ruth as a wife) to Boaz by handing over his shoe? How does that fit in? Commentaries say it's an ancient custom symbolizing the casting off of responsibility, but I don't get where the uncleanliness might fit in.

Any thoughts?

He is Risen!

“He is not here; He is risen, just as He said. Come see the place where He lay.” Matthew 28:6

Have a wonderful Easter!


📷from the Garden Tomb, 2017 #bestdayever

Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes: Jesus as the Cornerstone of the Third Temple

This is the second post in a series on Kenneth E. Bailey's Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes.

In chapter 1.4, Bailey talks about Paul's focus of Christian unity in 1 Corinthians 3:1-4:16. The Church in Corinth was beginning to split into factions as to followers of Paul Peter (Cephas), or Apollos. Paul uses the picture of farming imagery (being planted and watered) to show that they were equal servants of God who He chose to use to give growth to the Church through the ministry He gave each of them.

The climax of this picture is where Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:9b: "You are God's field, God's building." We, as Christians are both God's field and God's Temple. But then he says in 3:11: "For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already, laid, which is Jesus Christ."

This is where Bailey's commentary lent me some great insight. He says, "when the Jewish authorities cleared the rubble on the temple mount to rebuild the sanctuary of the second temple, they found an elevated stone in the middle of the old holy of holies". It was given the name "Shetiyah", which means "foundation". The text Bailey is citing in the Mishnah says that on the Day of Atonement, the most sacred day of the year, "the high priest would take a fire pan (full of charcoal and incense), enter the Holy of Holies, and place the pan on a raised stone in the center of the room.... Paul must have known of this stone and that it's name was 'the foundation'... Paul sees Jesus as the center of the holy of holies of the new temple he describes in [1 Corinthians 3]" (page 129).

Then, he talks about how important it is that Jesus is the foundation, and that if anyone builds on this foundation using straw, wood, hay, or even expensive stones (jewels), they will all burn up. The Corinthians knew this imagery well, because when the Romans destroyed the city in 146 B.C., they did it with fire—and left it in ruin until it was rebuilt in 44 B.C. The precious metals and gems didn't burn, obviously. But because Corinth was known for both its its bronze work and work with precious metals, this was used in its reconstruction. In fact, Bailey states in page 134 that expensive building materials were associated with the city of Corinth, so Paul's picture here of the temple being built with all of these different materials spoke directly to the context and understanding of the Corinthians in a way that we might not understand instinctively.

Finally, it is important to note that while Paul wrote this chapter, the Second Temple hadn't been destroyed yet. There were still twice-daily sacrifices offered for the sin of the people. So while all this is going on, and his readers are very aware of it, "Paul announced dramatically to his Jewish and Gentile readers that 'you (plural!*) are God's holy temple' and God's Spirit dwells in you (plural)' (page 132). The "you plural" here is for all Christian readers, not just Corinthians, as he points out in Chapter 1:2.

Basically, he is declaring Christians the "Third Temple"—before the Second Temple has been destroyed! 

I'd literally never thought about that before, but it's so true that God's Word isn't written in a vacuum, and to me, is another example of why it's so important to know the historical and cultural contexts of the Bible.

What do you think? Is there anything in this post that is new to you and adds to your understanding of this section of 1 Corinthians?



*see this post for the significance of "you plural" (or, y'all) being used in the Bible

Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes: Corinth

This week, we're going to be a series on another book by Kenneth E. Bailey: Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes. This book focuses specifically on the book of 1 Corinthians, and how the Early Church would have viewed His words to them through their cultural lenses.

First, like with Ephesus, Philippi, and Laodicea, it's important to know the setting of Corinth itself. A Roman colony, "Corinth was the largest international commercial city in the Eastern Mediterranean. The faith could move out across the region from Corinth in ways that could not have been possible from Athens" (page 105), even though Athens was technically the intellectual center of the Mediterranean world. 

Destroyed in 146 B.C. by the Romans for having opposed them, Corinth became a Roman colony in 44 B.C. to facilitate the movement of goods across the isthmus of Corinth and as a center of trade. As a commercial town composed of various ethnic communities, it was thriving in the first century, and the 3 groups that would have naturally dominated the young Christian community would have been the Romans, the Greeks, and the Jews" (page 69). 

photo of Corinth today by viator.com

Bailey points out that Paul uses language language of a tent-maker, or a brass-maker, which is interesting because Corinth was famous for its brass work. In Chapter 1, verse 2, the word 'agree' literally means 'fit together'. Bailey points out, "Pieces of canvas must 'fit together' or the tent will leak. If the canvas 'splits', the tent is worthless.... and no one will buy a brass pot with a handle that does not fit tightly to the pot" (pages 68-69). 

This letter is 1 of 3, the first one being lost (mentioned in 1 Corinthians 5:9), and was written between AD 53-55. Paul was towards the end of his 3rd missionary journey, based in Ephesus, which was also a major port city.

We'll take more about this in a future post (hello, 1 Corinthians 13!) but for now, how does knowing the setting of Corinth help place you in the mindset of the Corinthians and other Early Church readers?

Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes: Jesus' Parable of the Banquet

In Chapter 24 of Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes, Kenneth E. Bailey explores cultural themes in the Jesus' parable of the banquet in Luke 14:15-24.

So, the setting is that Jesus is at a banquet when telling this story. It's about a man who is throwing a banquet, and when it comes time for the actual banquet to happen, suddenly people have all these excuses as to why they can't come. As a Westerner reading this, I was thinking, "Well, maybe people didn't know about it until it was too late. Did he send an invitation? Or maybe people then were FOMO like now, hedging their bets on waiting to see all that is available to do that day before making a commitment" (you can probably guess what I think of this last practice, haha). 

But on page 313, Bailey breaks down the cultural practice of banquets: "In a traditional Middle Eastern village, the host of a banquet invites a group of his friends. On the basis of the number of people who accept the invitation, he decides how much and what kind of meat he will serve. On the day of the banquet, animals or fowl are butchered and the banquet prepared. When everything is ready, the master will send his servant around the village with the classical phrase, 'Please come, everything is ready.'" If someone can't come, then they need to give a plausible excuse. Not giving one is "a deliberate public insult to the host" (a very serious offense).

So, the first excuse given by a guess is that he's just bought a field and has to inspect it, which may seem like a real excuse to us. But Bailey says that back in Jesus' time, the process of buying a field took months, because the buyer needed to know about its quality of the soil, drainage, rainfall, etc, in different seasons. You don't "just" buy a field; you inspect it for months before buying it!

The second excuse is just as bad—that he just bought 5 yoke of oxen and needs to go test them. Like the purchasing of a field in the ancient Middle East, the purchase of oxen is just as serious. Because oxen must pull together and tire at the same speed, they would also have been observed very closely before purchasing. 

The third excuse is the worst: that the man just got married and cannot come. Bailey points out that "Middle Eastern chivalry produces a dignified and respectful manner of talking about one's wife" (page 315). The way this guest speaks (and the subject matter) and its use as an excuse is the most disrespectful excuse of all. 

When the servant tells his master, he's angry, because culturally, he knows these guests are working together to shut down the banquet. So he sends his servant out into the streets of the city to bring in the poor, the blind, the lame, and even strangers who are passing by on the highways.

Interpretation of this parable leads to the understanding that the banquet is the Kingdom of God. The first round of guests represent the leaders of the law, or those considered the most righteous. The second round represents the common people of the land, and the third, Gentiles. 

How does the expansion of the context of the excuses given heighten the seriousness of the refusal and rejection of the original guests?

**That's it for our study of Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes! I hope you enjoyed it... and that it interested you enough to possibly go out and buy the book for yourself! We're going to take a break for next week (Easter!) and start back with another Kenneth E. Bailey book on Paul on April 29!