Who is Our Firm Foundation? (Endnotes)

1. In Hebrew, “ben” is “son of” while “bat” is “daughter of.” Close

2. Peter’s father is known by two names in the Bible. “Jonah” (Matt. 16:17), and “John” (John 1:42; 21:15-17). The Bible does not explain why Peter’s father has two names. It is possible that his birth name was John, as the Gospel of John twice indicates, but because he was in the fishing business he picked up the name “Jonah.” He was more commonly known by that name. Some later copyists tried to harmonize the gospels of Matthew and John by changing the name “John” to “Jonah,” in the Gospel of John, which is why “Jonas” always appears in the King James Version. However, modern textual research shows that Peter’s father is called by two different names. Although that bothers some people, it is not a problem. Many people are called by different names in different situations. Close

3. Although it is not explicitly stated that the family patriarch led the family in the worship of God, the heads of families, such as Abraham, are consistently said to build altars and worship, while there is no record of a woman or child doing so. The implication is not that the man worshipped on his own while his wife (or wives) and children did not worship, but rather that the head of the family led the worship of the family. Close

4. The “name” of God in the Old Testament is “Yahweh,” sometimes referred to as “Jehovah,” although that spelling does not exist in the Hebrew (technically, neither does the spelling “Yahweh.” Hebrew does not have the vowels, so the name is YHWH in the written text. We supply the vowels as we believe the name would have been pronounced). It is used more than 6000 times in the Old Testament. “Names” such as “Elohim,” and “El Shaddai,” are titles, not God’s proper name. Close

5. Various ways the “sentence name” of Jehoshua can be constructed can be found in All the Divine Names and Titles in the Bible by Herbert Lockyer; Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names, by Alfred Jones; and some Bible Encyclopedia articles on Jehoshua, Joshua, and Jesus. Close

6. The fact that the names Joshua and Jesus are the same has led to some confusion. In the King James Version of the Bible, for example, “Jesus” is said to have brought the Tabernacle into the Promised Land (Acts 7:45; it should be “Joshua”), and he is also confused with Joshua in Hebrews 4:8. Close

7. For further study on the patron-client relationship see TruthOrTradition.com/patron Close

9. Merrill Tenney, editor; The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible (Regency Reference Library, Grand Rapids, MI, 1975), vol. 4, p. 358, “nail.” Close

10. C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament; Volume 10, The Minor Prophets (Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, MA, reprinted 2006), p. 584. Close

11. R. Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, D. Brown; A Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody MA, reprinted 2008), p. 692. Close

12. There are many other appellations and descriptions of Jesus Christ in addition to the ones handled in this article. You can find some in our book, One God & One Lord, in the appendix “Names and Titles of Jesus Christ.” Close

Home • Topics • Top 30 • Tell Friends • Contact Us