Do not open the commentary immediately. Read your Old Testament text (e.g., Genesis 15) in several translations (NIV, NRSV, ESV). Note your questions: Why does God use a smoking firepot? What is a "covenant of pieces"?
To explain Psalm 103:12, it references an Egyptian hymn where the deity judged the guilty by assigning them to the east and the righteous to the west, adding a layer of geographic and cultural finality to the metaphor of forgiveness. Publication and Format Details The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament ivp bible background commentary old testament pdf
Each section begins with an introduction, providing the necessary historical, geographical, and cultural background for that genre and period. Do not open the commentary immediately