How Many Women Were at the Foot of the Cross?

 The koine/common Greek used in the Bible was written without any punctuation, had no spaces between words, and was written in one long stream. This, and especially the lack of punctuation marks like commas, periods, colons, and semicolons, requires the modern reader sometimes to make assumptions as to the exact literal meaning. After centuries of scholarly study, this is not known to have ever obscured the theological messages being presented.

This is present in the question of exactly how many women were at the foot of the cross? Were there three or were there four? Depending on how they are identified there could have been more than four. We do know that more women were present but were standing farther back. 

These women standing farther back probably included Joanna (Luke 8:2-3, 24:10), who was the wife of Chuza, who was the personal steward of Herod Antipas.

Women were strongly attracted to Jesus. They lived in a totally male-dominated world but he treated them with actual respect as if they had brains and were actual people.

John was at the foot of the cross with the women (John 19:26-27) but where were all the other men? Well, they ran away or were hanging farther back into the crowd which was there to see the crucifixion. They were afraid. Matthew 26:56

A literal, word-for-word translation of Matthew 27:55-56: Were and / now there women many from afar off / a distance beholding / looking on who / which had followed to the Jesus from the Galilee ministering to / serving Him in / among whom was Mary the Magdalene and Mary the of James and Joseph / Joses mother and the mother of the sons Zebedee (four women)

A literal, word-for-word translation of Mark 15:40-41: They were and / now also women from / out of afar off / a distance beholding / looking on / observing in whom also / both Mary the Magdalene and Mary the of James the little / younger / less and of Joses / Joseph mother and Salome who when he was in the Galilee were following him and were ministering to / serving him and other many the ones having come up with him into / to Jerusalem (four women)

A literal, word-for-word translation of Luke 23:27: Was following / was trailing behind and / now / moreover to Him / Him much / great / large crowd / multitude / crowded mass of the people and of women who / which were beating themselves / were lamenting and were wailing / were mourning / singing dirges Him (The number of women is not stated and they are not individually named)

A literal, word-for-word translation of John 19:23-25: they had stood / were standing now / and / but beside / near / by the cross / stake of the of Jesus the mother of him / his and the sister of the of mother of him / his Mary the of the of Clopas / Cleopas and Mary the Magdalene / of Magdala (Either three or four women depending on whether or not Mary, the wife of Cleophas, was the sister of Mary, Jesus’ mother. The word could also mean female relative, especially since some traditions say that Cleophas/Clopas was Joseph’s brother)

The women who are mentioned include:

Jesus’mother, Mary (Miryam, Miriam)

Mary’s sister (possibly Salome, or Mary who was the wife of Clopas, or a different woman entirely)

Mary, the wife of Clopas/Cleophas. Tradition says that Clopas was the brother of Joseph.

Salome, who may have been the sister who is mentioned above. Tradition says she was the mother of the apostles James and John.

Mary the Magdalene

Mary, the mother of James the Less

The mother of the sons of Zebedee

You sort them out. This is like a situation which genealogists often run into while tracing family ancestry. Often in one small community there are several men of the same name and roughly of the same age. It can be difficult. 

Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus showed up to claim Jesus’ body for burial after he was declared to be dead. John 19:38-40

Remember that the New Testament is written in the Greek which was in common everyday use at that time. The contemporary readers would have understood exactly what was being said. We are the ones with the problem.

The fact that the four recountings of this event are not exactly word-for-word identical shows that the Gospels, while God-inspired, were written by four different men with different writing styles and different levels of proficiency in Greek and that God used each man to say what God wanted to be said. 

Subjects in the Labels List Which Begin with the Letters caa to car

 This blog is ακωλυτως, unhindered. (Acts 28:31) Any subject is fair game. Below is a listing of the LABELS which begin with the letters caa to car. All can be searched from the list which follows the last posted article on this page or by typing them into the SEARCH button at the top of the page. Most will call up multiple postings in which they appear.

C.S. Lewis, Cabalism, Cabo Verde, Caesar, Caesarea, cafeteria Christianity, Caiaphas, Cairo, cake, calendar, California, called home, called-out, calling, calmness, Calvinism, Calvinist, Cambodia, Cambyses, camcorder, Cameron Diaz, Campbellite, Campbellites, campus, Campus Crusade for Christ, Canaan, Canada, cancel culture, cancer, candles, candy, Candyman, cannibalism, canon, canonical  books, canonization, Cape Verde, Capernaum, capital punishment, capitalism, Captain America, Capuchins, car tags, carbohydrates. 

Athletics in Corinth

 Paul, and whoever wrote Hebrews, used athletic metaphors to explain spiritual truths. Paul described his efforts as fighting a good fight and finishing a race. The main use of the athletic metaphors was to show that winning the prize requires self discipline, intentional practice, and effort. It does not just happen by itself. 

An interesting fact is that Corinth (modern Korinthos, Greece) had a historical connection to athletics. It was the site of the Isthmian games which began in either 582 or 581 BC/BCE. Just as with the Olympics, the athletes competed in the nude in the sports of chariot races, wresting, boxing, and pankration, similar to modern mixed martial arts. The prizes for winning were garlands or wreaths.

When Corinth was destroyed by Rome in 146 BC/BCE, the games shifted to the city of Sicyon (modern Sikyona, Greece). In 44 BC/BCE, Corinth was rebuilt by Caesar and the games returned to the city 42 or 43 AD. They continued being observed until the 4th century AD/CE.

Hebrews 12:1; Philippians 2:16; Galatians 2:2, 2:7; 2 Timothy 4:7; 1 Corinthians 9:24-26.

Reading and Studying Books

To read, study, or even recommend that others read a book does not mean that you agree or disagree with the author. The ideas presented in the book may set you onto a path of discussion and understanding of what you personally believe, and why.

To actually have a fully reasoned opinion on a subject, it is necessary for you to examine all of the sides of the matter. Read as much as you can, including things with which you totally disagree.

You will find many spiritual books which are shallow and confused and some which are absolutely heretical. We do not use that word much in the modern world, but it is a real thing. Understand that the most dangerous heresies are ones that are almost true.

Be very suspicious of books which hesitate to express, or which actively discount, historical orthodox doctrines. Make an attempt to discern the operating worldview of the author.

Be like one of the Bereans. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in your thinking and then LISTEN as he performs his teaching and reminding ministry within your mind.

In order to truthfully say that you agree or disagree with the author of a book, this should be your ultimate standard: you should be able to state the author’s meaning to their satisfaction and expect the same from them.

Acts 17:11-12

Make Whatever You Want of This

Modern science understands that outer space is not simply an empty void.  Apparently, so does the Bible because, in numerous places, it speaks of God stretching out the heavens. This does not mean that the ancients understood any modern concepts of space and physics. Many of the ancient philosophers believed that reality included both seen and unseen components. The Bible itself never uses the word dimensions.

The heavens can be torn. Isaiah 64:1

The heavens can be worn like a garment. Psalm 102

The heavens can be split apart. Revelation 6:14

The heavens can be burned. 2 Peter 3:12

The heavens can be rolled up, bent, and curved. Hebrews 1:12.

The Christian writer, Chuck Missler (1934-2018) believed that the Hebrews citation implied the reality of dimensions extra to ours. Some apologists say that to roll up the heavens implies that the one doing the rolling must be outside of what is being rolled.

Missler cited the proto-kabbalist rabbi Saadia Gaon (892-942) who, in his Sefer Yetzirah (The Book of Creation) stated that there are a total of ten dimensions with four being directly observable. Interestingly, modern physics defines at least ten dimensions, four of which are measurable.

Kabbalism is a form of Jewish mysticism and the ten dimensions discussed by Gaon are considered to be attributes of God through which he interacts with the world in which we live. The teachings of kabbalah are highly esoteric with secret names, angels, demons, hidden doctrines, God as unknowable and unlimited, panentheism (God is all that really exists), acceptance by some of the doctrine of reincarnation, every individual letter of the Torah carries a hidden spiritual meaning and power, God created the universe by moving the Hebrew letters around, the Torah contains hidden messages and each letter represents a number, combinations of the numbers are also studied. To many critics, Christian and Jewish, this philosophy appears to have fallen into extreme eisegesis, reading doctrine into the Bible.

Make whatever you want of this. Most modern theologians, especially conservative High-Bible theologians, explicitly reject eisegesis and think that it is unwarranted to expect the Bible to be a quantum physics textbook.

2 Kings 6:16-17; 2 Corinthians 12:2-4; Luke 24:31; John 20:19; Acts 1:9.

Useful Internet Safety Tips

 This blog is ακωλυτως, unhindered. (Acts 28:31) Any subject is fair game. Since you are reading this post, you are using the internet. While it is not explicitly a Christian subject, internet safety is a very important thing you need to understand. There are many wolves out there who basically see you as food. They would love to drain any of your bank accounts and use your credit card numbers as their very own piggybank. Matthew 10:16 warns us to be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Jesus was speaking to the Twelve, and as a first-century Jew, he knew nothing of the internet but his words are applicable to our modern concerns. We really are surrounded by dangerous predators.

 Some unknown person wants you to open the link. Opening the link, or sometimes, even calling the sending number, installs malware in your devices, giving that person access to all of your personal and financial accounts, probably not a very good idea. 

Here are some useful internet safety tips:

Be very skeptical of unsolicited emails.

2.      If a phone call comes from someone not on your contacts list, send it to voice mail.

3.      Make sure your social media profiles are set to private.

U   Use complex passwords and have a totally different password for each online  account. If you are like me, you will need to keep a small notebook to remember them all. Don't lose it.

4.      Add a second layer of security (like a time-sensitive code sent to your phone or authenticator app) for banking, email, and social media. This is Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA).

5.      Never Share any access codes with anyone else. Delete them from your phone after you use them.

6.      Turn on automatic updates for your operating system, browsers, and applications to patch security vulnerabilities.

7.      Always use a VPN on public Wi-Fi. If you can, avoid public Wi-Fi entirely.

8.      Be highly skeptical of unexpected messages claiming you won a sweepstakes or have been hacked. Never click links in unexpected emails—

9. Restrict your accounts so only real-world friends can view your posts and photos.
10.  Turn off any location services. They do not need to know where you are.
11.  Do not post your schedule of when you will be at home alone, and especially, do not tell them when you will not be at home.
12. Remember that anything that is posted online will be online forever.

Definition: Bishop

 A modern definition of the word bishop is: an ordained member of the clergy who is in a position of oversight of a defined territory. The bishop is considered to be the chief pastor of the defined territory.

Bishop in English is derived from the biblical Greek word ἐπίσκοπος (transliterated into English as episkopos). This is the word from which episcopal is derived.

ἐπίσκοπος, as described in Strong’s 1985, is derived from two words, ἐπί (epi) and σκοπός (skopos). The preposition ἐπί (Strong’s 1909) is translated as on, upon, at, over, by, before, across, up against, beside, in, above, among, or on the basis of. The male noun σκοπός skopos (Strong’s 4649) is translated as look, watch over, to peer about, to act as a to consider, a sentry, an observer, and the mark toward which runners ran in a race.

ἐπίσκοπος is usually translated as an elder, bishop, watcher, or overseer. The biblical documents use only male pronouns for these persons. Whether or not this restricts eligibility for the office of bishop only to men is a contested issue among modern Christians. These persons are expected to be noble, above reproach, and able to teach.

In the Bible, bishops represented a single local church and served as a team of elders within that church. The idea of a bishop over a region or an entire country developed later as the Christian community became more organized and needed overall leadership. Just as with the office of bishop, the particular type of church governance is still a contested issue among modern Christians.

 Acts 20:17; Philippians 1:1; 1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-7; 1 Peter 5:1.