Advent Study 2025
Last year I shared with readers a short study I did on the city of Bethlehem. What interested me was the realization that its name can be translated "house of war," or "combative clan." That's because Semitic roots are trilateral, based on three consonants, and that the Hebrew Bible didn't even start using vowels until the 9th century. Here's a link/reminder to that post (but if there's a paywall, just go HERE);
Logan Martin Isaac
A year later, I'm still thinking about the meaning(s) we take for granted when we blindly trust other peoples' hermeneutic. When you read scripture through someone else's eyes, you read it through someone else's biases. And chances are, in that case, your translation has been colored by Civilian theology.
In ten days, I will be leading "O Little Town of Bethlehem," an in-person and remote Advent study that examines the military realities embedded in the Biblical narrative: from Bethlehem's meaning as "house of the fighter" to Mary and Joshua's status as military dependents in Galilee—a region marked by its garrison history and social stigma within Israel. This study recovers the overlooked martial context of Christ's birth, inviting military families and civilian allies to see their own experiences reflected in the circumstances surrounding the Incarnation.
