Jurnal Ilmiah Tafsir Alkitab

The Metaphor of Aging in Ecclesiastes 12:1–6: A Jewish Traditional Exegesis for Contemporary People

2026-08-26T03:03:49+00:00

Ecclesiastes 12:1–6 is widely read in Western scholarship as a somatic allegory of decline, yet the Jewish exegetical tradition that first shaped its interpretation the Babylonian Talmud, Qohelet Rabbah, and medieval Hebrew philologists remains underused as an exegetical partner, so that the poem's syntactic architecture has rarely been read together with this tradition's metaphorical logic. This study reconstructs that architecture through Jewish traditional exegesis and articulates its theological relevance for contemporary readers confronting aging. A qualitative literary-exegetical method combines close reading of the Masoretic Text with intertextual analysis of Talmudic, midrashic, and medieval rabbinic sources. The findings show that each image darkened luminaries, a trembling house, a blossoming almond, a severed silver cord functions as a layered cosmic-somatic sign summoning the reader to zikkaron, remembrance of the Creator, rather than mere biological decay. The study concludes that Jewish traditional exegesis offers a corrective, covenantal hermeneutic of aging for contemporary theology.

Justification by Faith in Romans 3:21–26: An Exegetical-Theological Study and Its Relevance to Legalism in the Indonesian Church

2026-08-26T03:19:23+00:00

This study analyzes justification by faith in Romans 3:21–26 through an exegetical-theological approach and evaluates its relevance for addressing legalism in the Indonesian church. The study addresses tendencies to associate salvation with obedience to the Law, religious performance, and human works, thereby obscuring divine grace. It aims to elucidate Paul’s understanding of justification and demonstrate how this theological framework critically engages legalistic patterns in church life. Using a qualitative literature-based method and historical-grammatical analysis of the Greek text, supported by critical commentaries, the study finds that justification is grounded in δικαιοσύνη θεοῦ (the righteousness of God), revealed apart from the Law and accomplished through Christ’s redemptive work, with faith as its means of reception. The term ἱλαστήριον places Christ’s death at the center of God’s saving action. Good works are therefore the ethical outworking, not the ground, of justification. This framework challenges performance-based religiosity and reorients ecclesial life toward grace and faithful obedience. The novelty of this study lies in integrating a historical-grammatical exegesis of Romans 3:21–26 with Barclay's concept of incongruous grace to provide a framework for evaluating whether religious practices function as responses to grace or as substitutes for it.

Genesis 11:1-9 and Technological Self-Totalization: A Theological Critique of Uncontrolled AI Ambition

2026-10-11T17:47:05+00:00

The uncontrolled development of Artificial Intelligence raises fundamental questions about human limits and divine sovereignty. This article analyzes the Tower of Babel narrative in Genesis 11:1-9 as a theological critique of uncontrolled AI ambition. Using a historical-grammatical exegetical method with attention to the Hebrew text, this study identifies four patterns of human ambition that parallel contemporary AI development, namely autonomy from God, centralized control, technological self-totalization, and self-glorification. The findings show that God's intervention at Babel was not merely punitive but redemptive, establishing limits that preserve authentic human flourishing. The article argues that the crisis posed by AI is not merely ethical but spiritual, touching the core of what it means to be human before God. The theological and pastoral implications include recovering a theology of limits, cultivating humility, replacing fear with trust, embracing diversity, and living with creaturely dependence on God. This study contributes to the development of an Evangelical theological response to AI that is attentive to the Asian context.

Old Age and Faith in Psalm 71: An Exegetical Study in Dialogue with Developmental Psychology

2026-10-15T10:10:22+00:00

Psalm 71 is the clearest psalm in which the petitioner prays explicitly in view of old age, yet its exegetical contribution to a biblical theology of aging remains underexplored. This study aims to interpret Psalm 71 exegetically and to bring its findings into dialogue with the psychology of aging. It employs a qualitative exegetical method based on the Masoretic Text (BHS), analysing structure, parallelism, key terms and verbal forms, and then relates the results heuristically to Erikson's theory, religious coping and spiritual resilience. The analysis shows that the psalm moves from refuge (vv. 1–8) through lament over old age (vv. 9–13) to hope and proclamation (vv. 14–18) and praise (vv. 19–24), bound together by the motifs of lifelong trust (minnĕʿûrāy, “from my youth”) and divine righteousness (ṣĕdāqâ). The study contributes a text-grounded model of aging faith in which memory, petition and generational witness form the basis of resilience.

An Exegetical Analysis of Isaiah 2:1–4 Regarding the Eschatology of Zion in Relation to the Universality of Peace Among the Nations

2026-10-11T17:52:10+00:00

The crisis of interethnic violence requires a theological interpretation concerning the eschatological relationship between Zion and the realization of universal peace. This article seeks to examine Isaiah 2:1–4 by elucidating the connections between YHWH’s authority, the Torah, judgment, the transformation of war, and peace among the nations. This study employs a qualitative method with a historical-grammatical approach based on an analysis of the historical-literary context, text structure, morphology, syntax, and semantics of the Hebrew language, utilizing the BHS text and relevant academic sources. The results of the analysis reveal that Zion appears as the center of YHWH’s universal authority, the Torah functions as a means to shape the life orientation of the nations, and YHWH’s judgment brings about the transformation of weapons and the cessation of the learning of war. The contribution of this study lies in the integration of exegesis between the eschatology of Zion and peace. These findings emphasize that eschatological peace is a universal relational order created through teaching, justice, the cessation of violence, and the reallocation of resources for life.

Imitating Christ as Children of Light: Ephesians 5:1–14 and the Spiritual Behavior of Generation Z

2026-10-20T16:48:46+00:00

Ephesians 5:1–14 contains the New Testament’s only call to become “imitators of God”, yet debates on imitation, the light–darkness contrast and the quotation in 5:14 have rarely been brought to bear on the formation of Generation Z, the largest age group in Indonesia. This study examines how the passage grounds believers’ conduct in their relation to God and Christ and how this grounding can frame the formation of Generation Z. It employs a qualitative exegetical method based on the Greek text (NA28), followed by an analogical theological-hermeneutical application. The passage argues from identity to conduct: believers are beloved children and light in the Lord; Christ’s self-giving love defines their love; holiness rejects greed as idolatry; discernment and moral clarity guide life amid competing claims; and Christ’s promise to shine sustains renewal. The study offers an identity-based framework for formation in families, churches and schools.

Spiritual Formation in Romans 12:1–2: A Socio-Rhetorical and Theological Analysis of Transformative Christian Living

2026-10-17T10:26:39+00:00

Romans 12:1–2 marks Paul’s transition from theological exposition to Christian living, yet scholarship has largely treated its key concepts in isolation. This study interprets the passage as an integrated Pauline account of spiritual formation. It combines socio-rhetorical analysis of the Greek text (NA28), examining its inner texture, intertexture, social and cultural texture, and ideological and sacred textures, with theological synthesis. The analysis shows that Paul grounds formation in God’s mercies, defines worship as the offering of embodied life (logikē latreia), sets conformity to “this age” against transformation by the renewal of the mind (a renewal that, in Romans, is the work of the Spirit and is directed towards conformity to Christ, 8:29), and makes discernment of God’s will the outcome of formation within the community of Romans 12:3–21. The study contributes a seven-dimensional model of formation – grace-grounded, Spirit-empowered, embodied, eschatological, cognitive, discerning and communal – for Pauline studies and discipleship practice.