100708 1 Cor 1-2

1 Corinthians 1
1.11  there is quarreling...  In church!? Surely not!
1.22-29  It is interesting to follow the string of words emphasizing power and wisdom.
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1 Corinthians 2
2.6  of this age...  Reminds me to look forward to the next one.

100708 Gen 14-16

Genesis 14
14.18  brought bread and wine...  It is interesting how often food was involved in these kinds of situations.  It has gotten me to thinking about the spiritual significances of eating.
14.20  People practiced tithing as an act of worship commonly in the ancient Near East at this time (cf. 28:22).487 It was also a common tax. This is still true in some modern countries. For example, in England part of every person's taxes goes to maintain the Church of England. Some residents regard this part of their tax as their contribution to the church or their tithe. However since Melchizedek gave Abram a priestly blessing, it is likely that Abram reciprocated by giving Melchizedek a gift with priestly connotations.488 "All" probably refers to all that he took in the battle rather than all that was in Abram's possession (cf. vv. 23-24; Heb. 7:4).  --Thomas Constable
14.23 lifted up my hand...  It is interesting the the nasb and Living both say solemn oath and all the rest use this more literal rendering (esv has oath in the footnotes).  The thought of lifting my hand to make God a promise in a private setting seems kind of silly. It seems that this might have happened during the meeting with Melchizedek.
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Genesis 15
15.6 classic verse
15.17  a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch...  " In this symbol Jehovah manifested Himself to Abram, just as He afterwards did to the people of Israel in the pillar of cloud and fire. " ---Keil and Delitzch
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Genesis 16
16.2  listened to the voice of Sarah...  This doesn't seem to have a positive connotation here.
16.13 You are a God of seeing.  ...I have seen Him who looks after me.  Expressions that are good reminders of God's watchful eye over us.  It is also interesting to note that this is in the context of God telling Hagar to go back to her mean master.

100707 Gen 11-13

Genesis 11
11.9 There the Lord confused the language... Language, singular.  I hadn't noticed that.  I would imagine that it has some philological significance.
11.10 the generations of Shem...
11.27 the generations of Tera...  
11.28 The description of Haran's death seems to be loaded with cultural significance.
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Genesis 12
12.1-3  Five "I will's"
12.10-20  I was struck by what a desperate, fearful time this must have been for Abram.
12.7  so he built an altar...
12.8  there he built an altar...
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Genesis 13
13.7  at that time...  This phrase seems to indicate some shifts over time in where people groups lived.
13.13  great sinners...  I suspect that the Canaanites that Abram lived with were not wholesome God-fearing people either.

Mon 100705 Genesis 6-10

"One mark of the coherence of the flood narrative is to be found in its 

literary structure. The tale is cast in the form of an extended palistrophe, 

that is a structure that turns back on itself. In a palistrophe the first item 

matches the final item, the second item matches the penultimate item, and 

so on. The second half of the story is thus a mirror image of the first. This 

kind of literary structure has been discovered in other parts of Genesis, but 

nowhere else is it developed on such a large scale. This may be partly due

to the fact that a flood narrative is peculiarly suited to this literary 

form. . . .

"Particularly striking are the references to days (lines H, I, L, O). (Only 

the references to days form part of the palistrophe; the 40 days and nights 

[vii 4, 12] and the dates do not.) The periods of time form a symmetrical 

pattern, 7, 7, 40, 150, 150, 40, 7, 7. The turning point of the narrative is 

found in viii:1 'God remembered Noah.'

"What then is the function of the palistrophe? Firstly, it gives literary 

expression to the character of the flood event. The rise and fall of the 

waters is mirrored in the rise and fall of the key words in its description. 

Secondly, it draws attention to the real turning point in the saga: viii 1, 

'And God remembered Noah.' From that moment the waters start to

decline and the earth to dry out. It was God's intervention that was 

decisive in saving Noah, and the literary structure highlights this fact."302 

The following diagram illustrates this palistrophe (chiasm) simply. 

"Introduction: Noah's righteousness and Noah's sons (6:9-10).

A God resolves to destroy the corrupt race (6:11-13).

 B Noah builds an ark according to God's instructions (6:14-22).

  C The Lord commands the remnant to enter the ark (7:1-9).

   D The flood begins (7:10-16).

     E The flood prevails 150 days and the water covers

the mountains (7:17-24).

      F God remembers Noah (8:1a).

     E' The flood recedes 150 days, and the mountains

are visible (8:1b-5).

    D' The earth dries (8:6-14).

  C' God commands the remnant to leave the ark (8:15-19).

 B' Noah builds an altar (8:20).

A' The Lord resolves not to destroy humankind (8:21-22)."303

301 - Mathews, pp. 349-50.

302 - Gordon J. Wenham, "The Coherence of the Flood Narrative," Vetus Testamentum 28:3 (1978):337, 339-

40. See also idem, Genesis 1—15, pp. 155-58. There is a helpful chart of the chronology of the Flood in 

The Bible Knowledge Commentary: Old Testament, p. 39.

303 - Ross, Creation and . . ., p. 191. See also the charts in Mathews, p. 354; and Waltke, Genesis, p. 125.

http://www.soniclight.com/constable/notes/pdf/genesis.pdf

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Genesis 6
6.3  shall not abide...  The footnote for the esv has contend as and alternative for abide, which make more sense in the context.  It would be interesting to look up the Hebrew word that would support both meanings.
6.9  blameless in his generation...  We generally think of blameless as an absolute attribute, so the description in his generation is interesting.

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Genesis 7
7.5  I like this verse.
7.16  And the Lord shut him in.  A really cool thing to think about.  I guess that God could have let Noah do it.  It is a significant statement/action.
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Genesis 8
8.19  went out by families...  I am not sure that I have noticed this before.  Another interesting tidbit to include in the account.
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Genesis 9
9.10  and with every living creature...  God making a covenant with the animals is an interesting thought.
9.22  his nakedness...  This is a somewhat ambiguous expression. Evidently Noah became so drunk that he took off all his clothes and then passed out naked in his tent. There is no explicit indication that Ham disrobed his father or committed some homosexual act.348 However, because the expression "to see one's nakedness" is sometimes used of sexual intercourse, it is possible that sexual immorality was involved.349

348 - See Mathews, pp. 417, 419.
349 - Wolf, pp. 106-7.

http://www.soniclight.com/constable/notes/pdf/genesis.pdf
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Genesis 10
It is interesting that decendents are given for some brothers, but not others.
10.9  a mighty hunter before the Lord...  I find the phrase before the Lord to be intriging. I am unclear of what it means, but feel pretty sure it is significants.  It would be a good one to look up.