tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post1021506411318010705..comments2024-03-28T13:59:11.445-07:00Comments on Left Behind and Loving It: Remaining, Requiring, ReceivingD. Mark Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12016377712982292924noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-71328313016131822742021-05-09T13:44:14.798-07:002021-05-09T13:44:14.798-07:00Say Bruce,
I have a friend who was the Executive ...Say Bruce, <br />I have a friend who was the Executive Director of the Sonoma Valley Grape Growers' Association, so I sent him our question about whether we should interpret this word as separation or propping up. Here is his response. <br /><br />"Grape vine fruitfulness is actually set the season before. That means you want sun into the canopy so that fruitful buds are formed. Managing the canopy through pruning and trellising are tools to increase fruitfulness the coming season. And of course that must continue annually to maintain fruitful vines. Weather at bud differentiation also plays an important role. Cold and cloudy weather when bud differentiation is occurring can reduce fruitfulness as well. Typically today at least, each cane (each bud creates a cane) will have 2 clusters. If 0 is it a blank shoot. Sometimes you get 1 cluster or 3, again depending on the weather the previous spring.<br /> <br />So I am not sure what the grape vine management might have been in the passage, but it good well reflect practices of managing the vine with pruning (thinning shoots from the previous crop) or some sort of canopy management like we call trellising today. I will leave it up to you to decide on the proper translation, but you are likely onto something."<br />D. Mark Davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12016377712982292924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-62786482359004592542021-05-09T11:14:09.801-07:002021-05-09T11:14:09.801-07:00Thanks Mark. I agree. Im a horticulturalist and wh...Thanks Mark. I agree. Im a horticulturalist and while its a nice idea i can't see its logic in the real world. ...Bruce MacKayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12186107910368395860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-6368416291348762012021-05-09T07:08:38.271-07:002021-05-09T07:08:38.271-07:00You have great discussions at your church, Bruce. ...You have great discussions at your church, Bruce. That's nice to hear.<br />I would yield to vine growers to say whether trellising a fruitless branch would stimulate growth. Most of my experience these days is with succulents. I do get the impression that v. 2 has a contrast between fruitless and fruitful, so I've always assumed that the contrast would push us toward the secondary definition of αἴρει, of cutting away, as opposed pruning, which is different kind of pruning. <br />Again, a vine grower might show that, indeed, a fruitless, unsupported branch may become fruitful if properly supported, but I am familiar enough with the process. IF that turns out to be the case, I will modify my translation and drop a note. D. Mark Davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12016377712982292924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-62697206014184467702021-05-05T04:50:56.693-07:002021-05-05T04:50:56.693-07:00αiρει: in v2 you have as also meaning to raise or...αiρει: in v2 you have as also meaning to raise or luft up. We had a discussion at church about a possible alternative reading of this verse if the gardener supports rather than removes the fruitless branches. That seems at odds with v6 if we're trying to get a consistent reading. <br />Do you have an opinion on this? Bruce MacKayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12186107910368395860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-41435233015293008432021-05-02T06:59:54.222-07:002021-05-02T06:59:54.222-07:00That sounds like a promising way of hearing 'a...That sounds like a promising way of hearing 'abide' to me. I think I need a term that speaks to both a state of being (such as abide) and resultant activity (which I hear in align.) I suspect μένω may carry more than just one dimension of meaning. <br />Thanks for this helpful suggestion,<br />MDD. Mark Davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12016377712982292924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-48718748412860512552021-05-02T06:57:37.025-07:002021-05-02T06:57:37.025-07:00Thanks, my friend. I often find myself not preachi...Thanks, my friend. I often find myself not preaching from the gospel text, so I need to limit the amount of time and energy I put toward it for the sake of the text I am preaching on. Still, it is nice to go back to these texts every 3 years and to look at the work with fresh eyes. D. Mark Davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12016377712982292924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-11193218914691586122021-05-01T16:43:03.824-07:002021-05-01T16:43:03.824-07:00;-) Better late than ---!;-) Better late than ---!Bill Schlesingerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14304598437917344802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-23558588025300644202021-04-28T11:53:53.807-07:002021-04-28T11:53:53.807-07:00As I was reading your comments about "abide&q...As I was reading your comments about "abide" I kept hearing "align", mostly as our part of it. Align seems to lift up our responsibility to stay in alignment with the logon - to stay tuned to the frequency. Is there anything there or am I being fanciful? Anyway, thank you for being my weekly sermon starting place. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12620669650178546555noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-50197764770861311442021-04-26T08:05:24.802-07:002021-04-26T08:05:24.802-07:00I am a big fan of your work! Thank you so much fo...I am a big fan of your work! Thank you so much for your past "posts" on Textweek as well as your current updates. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01130567217964073317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-36982402163406964352021-04-25T07:23:59.778-07:002021-04-25T07:23:59.778-07:00Bill, Here's my delayed-by-three-years respons...Bill, Here's my delayed-by-three-years response. Both greekbible.com and thebible.org have it as subjunctive, which is what I thought it was. Hmm.. if nothing else your comment has alerted me that I've become way more dependent on these resources than I once was. Discerning between the future imperative and the subjunctive have often posed a challenge for me.<br />Sorry for the delay. Usually this time of year I end up preaching from Acts or doing a series that takes me away from the gospel lections. D. Mark Davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12016377712982292924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-79386745970919194232018-04-29T06:42:41.055-07:002018-04-29T06:42:41.055-07:00I'm getting γένησθε as future indicative, not ...I'm getting γένησθε as future indicative, not subjunctive; seems to say that abiding (v.7) leads to bearing fruit and the coming into being of disciples?Bill Schlesingerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14304598437917344802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-58163075867902362702018-04-26T13:30:32.446-07:002018-04-26T13:30:32.446-07:00We're pondering together. Thanks for the note....We're pondering together. Thanks for the note.D. Mark Davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12016377712982292924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-26772919673636924232018-04-24T18:43:25.449-07:002018-04-24T18:43:25.449-07:00I will be pondering the conditionality of our disc...I will be pondering the conditionality of our discipleship for a while. Thank you!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-58424776763621050062015-05-02T07:59:53.518-07:002015-05-02T07:59:53.518-07:00Thanks Jeff! I always need reminding that Jesus wa...Thanks Jeff! I always need reminding that Jesus was about much more serious work than giving us magic formulas to repeat. D. Mark Davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12016377712982292924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-15877030834508558892015-05-02T07:17:34.706-07:002015-05-02T07:17:34.706-07:00I'm grateful for your treatment of verse 7! T...I'm grateful for your treatment of verse 7! Too often I've relied on the qualification that if you ask for something, in an abiding, God-centered, Godly-result way, THEN you may be certain of a positive outcome. Your choices in Resolve and Require give pause for us to be qualifying and measuring, giving thought and reflection. It adds a gravity to any request that I<br />think conveys the state of mind we should possess when we come to the Lord. Well done! -JeffAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-46569629364923496942015-05-01T05:58:31.290-07:002015-05-01T05:58:31.290-07:00It's my joy to study the Scriptures and only a...It's my joy to study the Scriptures and only a small step of work to make it public through this blog. Thank you for such an affirmative statement! It makes that small step of work all the more worthwhile. <br />Blessings to you and your congregation, whoever you are. I seem to have a lot of friends named Anonymous. D. Mark Davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12016377712982292924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320313747187588188.post-50754545995470966542015-04-30T11:45:39.589-07:002015-04-30T11:45:39.589-07:00Thank you so much for your work. My congregation ...Thank you so much for your work. My congregation and I are getting much smarter thanks to you. Seriously!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com