WTF, What the Faithlife?
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As an aside point and not meaning to be contentious about it, I'm not sure I'd agree that σκύβαλον can be qualified as being vulgar.
I am no expert at greek, I only know I have heard one Lutheran Greek professor and Chuck Swindoll infer it should be read as such, the Professor whose name slips my mind referred to it as not a very nice word for "dung" in the greek.
-Dan
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I am no expert at greek, I only know I have heard one Lutheran Greek professor and Chuck Swindoll infer it should be read as such, the Professor whose name slips my mind referred to it as not a very nice word for "dung" in the greek
Some have thought that Paul here deliberately uses language that is vulgar, or at least crude, perhaps comparable to Eng. crap (cf. Spicq 3:265; the orig. French is crotte, “dung”). However, the use of the term by various writers (see above, GL, esp. the refs. to Philo) does not indicate such a nuance; the rendering of the NIV 2011 is prob. on target: “I consider them garbage.” (NIDNTTE)
Luther, on the other hand, seemed to have no real scruples about vulgar language and toilet humour.
This is my personal Faithlife account. On 1 March 2022, I started working for Faithlife, and have a new 'official' user account. Posts on this account shouldn't be taken as official Faithlife views!
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Well, if we're on this subject, see Dan Block's comment on Ezekiel's particular word for "idols" in the Ezek 6:4-7 section of his NICOT commentary. Although he is politely reserved in his commentary, Block was less reserved in the informal setting of the classroom (back in the 90s) where he told us the English equivalent of exactly what Ezekiel meant.
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Faithlife employees have consistently either completely ignored them, blown them off as impossible, or just said, "the mobile app is not intended to be like the desktop app" as a reason to accept less than standard quality for a mobile Bible app.
Tim, I'm willing to discuss this offline if you wish. kevin dot byford at faithlife dot com.
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see Dan Block's comment on Ezekiel's particular word for "idols" in the Ezek 6:4-7 ... where he told us the English equivalent of exactly what Ezekiel meant.
What professors say in class should always taken with caution until it can be verified. They too, as human beings, get caught up in the moment and can exaggerate. I had a professor who seemed intent on vindicating his desire to see the Scriptures as "looser than you stiff bigots make it to be". I could see his taste for this in his own occasional use of inappropriate words to shock and how satisfied he seemed to be with himself when he did it (the "innovative" Bible scholar). In any case, I am not saying Block is wrong nor that there never is (nor should be) anything objectionable in the Scriptures, but since I do not have the corresponding NICOT volume, and I cannot find something that matches in the many lexical resources I have, I am curious about what exactly he says about the meaning or connotations of גִּלּוּלִים.
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...since I do not have the corresponding NICOT volume, and I cannot find something that matches in the many lexical resources I have, I am curious about what exactly he says about the meaning or connotations of גִּלּוּלִים.
Here you go [warning: there is some strong language in the footnotes]:
idols. The word gillûlı̂m, which occurs three times in this text, represents Ezekiel’s favorite expression for “images.” Although he did not coin the term, the fact that 39 of its 48 occurrences in the OT are in this book indicates its usefulness for his purposes.42 The word appears to be an artificial construct derived from the verb gālal, “to roll,” but vocalized after the pattern of šiqqûṣı̂m.43 The adoption of this word as a designation for idols may have been prompted by the natural pelletlike shape and size of sheep feces or, less likely, the cylindrical shape of human excrement.44 The name has nothing to do with the shape of idols, but it expresses Ezekiel’s/Yahweh’s disposition toward them. Modern sensitivities prevent translators from rendering this expression as Ezekiel intended it to be heard, but had he been preaching today, he would probably have identified these idols with a four-letter word for excrement.45 A more caustic comment on idolatry can scarcely be imagined. Yahweh’s treatment of these images will involve not only their “smashing” (šābar) and “obliteration” (šābat), but their exposure as powerless figments of the human imagination. The destruction of the images testifies to the deities’ impotence to defend themselves,46 and the slaughter of the devotees to the gods’ inability to defend their worshipers.
42. Ezekiel’s usage is inspired by Lev. 26:30, but it occurs elsewhere in Deut. 29:16 (Eng. 17); 1 K. 15:12; 21:26; 2 K. 17:12; 21:11, 21; 23:24; Jer. 50:2.
43. See above on 5:11. For a full discussion of the word see D. Bodi, “Les gillûlı̂m chez Ézéchiel et dans l’Ancien Testament, et les différentes pratiques cultuelles associées à ce terme,” RB 100 (1993) 481–510.
44. Cf. Ezekiel’s earlier reference to human excrement as gelĕlê hāʾādām in 4:12, 15.
45. Bodi (RB 100 [1993] 481, 510) captures the intended sense with “shitgods.”
46. Cf. Joash’s defense of Gideon, in Judg. 6:31, after the smashing of Baal’s altar: “If he is a god, let him defend, since someone has torn down his altar.”
Daniel I. Block, The Book of Ezekiel, Chapters 1–24, New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Accordance electronic ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 226.
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This isn't just a matter of whether or not the FL servers are dependable. I know that you guys do your best to keep the servers up and running. For me, the most important reality is that mobile devices are, well, mobile! That means they're not always going to be connected to the internet. If I'm at a church that doesn't have WiFi, a large percentage of the Logos mobile app's features are completely gone on my mobile devices unless I have a data subscription. I don't have a data subscription on my tablet, so I'm simply out of luck when traveling or away from a WiFi network. Even on my smart phone, my cell data plan is limited, so I don't like to know that precious data is being consumed by tasks that could easily be done locally without a need for internet.
Well stated.
Not to mention the issue of connection speeds. Depending on how fast one's connection to the internet may be determines how fast the app works when it is so needy on the servers. I couldn't even tell you how many times I've gotten so frustrated with a FL app that I have to just close it down and open a competitor's app because of the extremely slow response time due to server dependency. Internet connection speeds vary, and I don't like my Bible study experience to be dependent on that.
My own experience is similar. FWIW I have a high spec Android phone with unlimited data.
Tim, I think you have identified what should rightly be of prime consideration when building server-side dependencies into the mobile apps.
I just can't find the time, or energy, to write my own comprehensive post on the experience trying to use the mobile apps - which would properly mean starting a new thread.
"The Christian mind is the prerequisite of Christian thinking. And Christian thinking is the prerequisite of Christian action." - Harry Blamires, 1963
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I couldn't even tell you how many times I've gotten so frustrated with a FL app that I have to just close it down and open a competitor's app because of the extremely slow response time due to server dependency.
My own experience is similar. FWIW I have a high spec Android phone with unlimited data.
Where I've personally experienced speed problems when online the most is with the Bible citations that one taps on and a popup opens. When I'm online, the popup oftentimes take a long time to appear, even though I have the Bible that is being used has been download locally to my device and is available offline. Nevertheless, the citations are being downloaded each time apparently.
When I'm offline the popup windows appear very quickly with the beginning of the verse (I wish I could say "verses," but only the beginning of one verse appears in the Android app).
For the rest, I have had pretty decent experience regarding speed as long as I have the resources I'm using downloaded. If you're having speed problems, make sure you've downloaded the resources you use most. It makes a huge difference (except for the popup windows).
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I have had pretty decent experience regarding speed as long as I have the resources I'm using downloaded. If you're having speed problems, make sure you've downloaded the resources you use most. It makes a huge difference (except for the popup windows).
Good observation.
When I'm offline the popup windows appear very quickly with the beginning of the verse (I wish I could say "verses," but only the beginning of one verse appears in the Android app).
One reason I frequently don't use a Faithlife app - other apps allow me to scroll through the text within pop-ups for bible verse links. Not only can I then read the whole verse range referenced I can also examine the context very efficiently.
"The Christian mind is the prerequisite of Christian thinking. And Christian thinking is the prerequisite of Christian action." - Harry Blamires, 1963
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