Quotes from Amy-Jill Levine

The reference to Quirinius is therefore not a historical factoid; it is designed to remind readers about political leaders who promote armed rebellion.

just as the Magi, seen now as kings, paid homage to Jesus by following his star, so the kings of the earth should pay homage to the emperor by following his sign.

For a miracle to work, it should change those who receive it. The task now, and the joy, is to see how the miracle stories can work on us.

The term manger is not just a bed of straw; it is a feeding trough.

More, the name Bethlehem literally means "house of bread.

But she came and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, help me." 26 He answered, "It is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs." 27 She said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." 28 Then Jesus answered her, "Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed instantly.

When the Evangelists mention a date and a place, they are telling us to pay attention, for time and space hold a surfeit of meaning.

That is because firstborn presumes there are others. Firstborn child is usually seen as a different designation than only child.

I mentioned how much I like the Magi, not only because they stop to ask for directions, but also because they are delightfully comic figures. They speak the truth, even when they do not realize the import of their words. I then compared them to Larry, Moe, and Curly (if these are unfamiliar people to you, ask someone over the age of seventy).

The star of Bethlehem is not about science; it is about the search for meaning.

Any story set in the reign of King Herod is a story of political intrigue and of threats to life.

Shepherds are no more and no less ritually impure than anyone else.

Watch out, and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees." 7

To grasp the implications of the comparison—the term "parable" comes from the Greek para, "along side, together with," as in "parallel" or "paradox," and balo, "to cast," "to throw"—we need to understand the nuances of each side of the equation. We immediately realize that, with such comparisons, no single meaning can ever be determined, just as no single metaphor or simile can be restricted.

They are in the field where they protect their animals: they represent those who care for the vulnerable. They may also remind us of other shepherds: Rebecca, Rachel, Moses, and David.

That's why both Matthew and Luke provide genealogies placing Jesus in the line of Abraham, Judah, and King David.

Anti-Jewish and potentially anti-Jewish rhetoric goes unnoticed in so much Christian scholarship because the authors are not attuned to how their words sound to different ears. The

This book is an act of listening anew, of imagining what the parables would have sounded like to people who have no idea that Jesus will be proclaimed Son of God by millions, no idea even that he will be crucified by Rome. What would they hear a Jewish storyteller telling them? And why, two thousand years later, are these questions not only relevant, but perhaps more pressing than ever?

Salvation means that there is respite from whatever oppresses in the community that hears, and lives, this Gospel.

The name Zechariah comes from the Hebrew root z-k-r, which means "remember"; the "yah" at the end is the marker for YHWH, so the name means "God remembers.

Once we figure out the sign, whether of a pregnant woman, of a mother who has just given birth, of a newborn, even of baby clothes or a stable, our next step is to work out the symbolism, or what that sign "signifies.

Elizabeth's name likely derives from the Hebrew Eli, meaning "my God," the beginning of Jesus' cry from the cross ("My God, my God"). The second part comes from sheva, which is an oath. Thus, her name indicates that God keeps promises.

The celestial choir that appears to the shepherds is usually called the "heavenly host"; the CEB offers "heavenly forces" (2:13), which is the better translation for today. This is God's army.

Righteousness" for Luke does not mean having the correct theology. Righteousness means behaving in a way marked by justice.