Jurnal Ilmiah Tafsir Alkitab

The Wrath of God in Revelation

Michael R. Burgos — 2026-04-28

The book of Revelation presents a vivid and multifaceted depiction of the wrath of God that is both distinctive and harmonious with its occurrences throughout the Old Testament and the remainder of the New Testament. This study offers an exegetical analysis of the passages in Revelation that explicitly reference divine wrath, emphasizing its eschatological finality and irrevocable character as executed by the Father and the risen Lamb upon all who persist in rebellion. A comparative examination with canonical portrayals reveals Revelation’s heightened apocalyptic imagery, such as the wine of God’s wrath, the winepress of his fury, and the bowls of judgment, while affirming continuity with Old Testament types of historical and prophetic judgment. Additionally, divine wrath is briefly considered as a genuine expression of God’s perfect emotional life in response to evil, consistent with the doctrine of divine impassibility. The study concludes with a consideration of Revelation’s presentation of final punishment as eternal conscious torment.

Barrenness, Righteousness, and Marital Faithfulness in Luke 1:6-7, 25: Implications for Infertility Practices in West African Christian Communities

Oluseye David Oyeniyi — 2026-04-28

Barrenness in Gospel of Luke 1:6-7, 25 was examined as a pastorally significant issue with implications for marital faithfulness in African Christian communities, where infertility often carried social stigma and shaped marital expectations. Although Lucan scholarship had widely explored the infancy narrative, limited attention had been given to the theological significance of barrenness for infertility practices and marital ethics in African Christian contexts. This study therefore investigated Luke’s portrayal of barrenness, its relationship to covenantal righteousness and marital fidelity, and its relevance for contemporary ecclesial responses to infertility. A qualitative interpretive approach grounded in spiral hermeneutics was employed, integrating textual, narrative, and socio-historical analysis with African contextual and feminist theological perspectives. The findings show that Luke presents barrenness as compatible with righteousness and faithful marriage, thereby challenging assumptions that equate fertility with divine favour or marital legitimacy. The study concludes that Luke’s theology of barrenness provides a constructive biblical framework for compassionate, contextually grounded, and pastorally responsible engagement with infertility in African Christian communities.

Creation Care in Genesis 1–2: An African Biblical-Ethical, Religious Perspectives

Michael Ufok Udoekpo — 2026-04-28

This article examines Genesis 1–2 through an African biblical-ethical lens, arguing that the creation narratives provide a theological foundation for ecological responsibility within African religious contexts. It contends that African ecological consciousness is deeply embedded in religious ethics, communal values, and the lived experience of interdependence between human beings, the natural world, and God as Creator. Using a contextual-critical method, the study engages Genesis 1–2 in dialogue with African socio-cultural anthropology, theological reflection, and environmental ethics. Particular attention is given to key ethical themes such as harmony, justice, personhood, stewardship, and ubuntu, understood as a relational vision of life summarized in the expression, “I am because you are.” The article demonstrates that African religious worldviews offer important hermeneutical resources for reinterpreting the biblical doctrine of creation beyond exploitative anthropocentrism. It concludes that a constructive dialogue between Genesis 1–2 and African ethical traditions can contribute to a more contextually grounded eco-theology and encourage African religious communities to recover their vocation as responsible participants in the care of creation.

Redemption as a Transformational Cultic-Pneumatological Act: A Thematic Analysis of Hebrews 9:11–14

Binsar Pandapotan Silalahi — 2026-04-28

This study addresses the tendency toward fragmentation in the study of Hebrews 9:11–14, where cultic, pneumatological, and existential approaches have been developed separately, resulting in an inadequate explanation of the relationship between Christ’s actions and the effect of sanctification. This study aims to formulate an integrative model of atonement through thematic analysis within a systematic theological framework, using exegetical examination as an analytical tool. The novelty of this study lies in the formulation of a relational model that integrates blood, the Spirit, and the purification of the conscience into a single coherent conceptual structure. The results of the study show that redemption in Hebrews 9:11–14 is structured as a cultic-pneumatological act that produces ontological transformation. Its contribution clarifies the reading of the text and provides a conceptual foundation for the development of a soteriology that integrates the legal, cultic, and transformational dimensions.

An Exegetical-Hermeneutical Study of Romans 2:24: Christian Witness in Light of Orwell’s Animal Farm

Jabes Pasaribu — 2026-04-28

This article interprets Romans 2:24 within Paul’s argument in Romans 2:17–29 and in light of its prophetic background in Isaiah 52:5 and Ezekiel 36:20–23. Using a qualitative exegetical-hermeneutical approach, the study argues that Romans 2:24 should be read not merely as a moral rebuke against religious inconsistency but as a theological indictment of failed public representation: the people of God may become the very occasion through which God’s name is dishonored among outsiders. The exegetical analysis is then placed in a disciplined hermeneutical dialogue with George Orwell’s Animal Farm, treated not as a primary source of meaning but as a secondary allegorical lens that clarifies how a community can maintain normative claims while betraying them in practice. The study shows that the contradiction between confession and conduct, sustained at times by narrative self-justification, undermines the credibility of Christian witness in the public sphere. Accordingly, Romans 2:24 carries enduring significance for Biblical Studies and for contemporary ecclesial life: it locates credible public witness not in communicative strategy but in the covenantal coherence of a community whose embodied life either commends or dishonors the name it bears.

Authority Curved Inward: A Psycho-Hermeneutical Reading of Narcissistic Leadership in Biblical Texts and Implications for Indonesian Ecclesial Discourse

Tri Astuti — 2026-04-28

This article argues that narcissistic distortion in Christian religious leadership constitutes a theological deformation of authority, which this study designates as the inward curvature of authority, rather than a merely psychological or moral failure. Through a psycho-hermeneutical analysis of five biblical passages, namely Ezekiel 34:1-10, Matthew 23:1-12, 3 John 9-10, Mark 10:42-45, and John 13:1-17, the study attends to specific lexical and grammatical features: the reflexive use of ra'ah in Ezekiel, habitual present disjunctions in Matthew, the dispositional philoproteuon in 3 John, domination verbs in Mark, and the eidos-grounded service syntax in John 13. The analysis demonstrates that these texts together disclose a coherent scriptural grammar distinguishing distorted from restored authority. Three recurring features of distorted authority emerge across the corpus: self-referentiality, instrumentalization of others, and systematic resistance to reciprocity and correction. These textual findings are brought into critical dialogue with Indonesian ecclesial discourse, where leadership idioms such as gembala, hamba Tuhan, and bapa rohani have functioned to legitimate asymmetrical power structures. The study contributes a biblically grounded theological framework for pastoral discernment, leader formation, and ecclesial accountability in the Indonesian Christian context.

Divine Providence in the Joseph Narrative: A Narrative Theological Reading of Genesis 37-50

Eni Lestari — 2026-04-29

This article examines divine providence in the Joseph narrative of Genesis 37-50 through a narrative-theological reading. Previous scholarship has tended to treat this narrative in fragmentary ways, focusing on isolated episodes rather than on the text as a coherent literary whole, thereby obscuring its theological movement. Using a qualitative synchronic approach informed by biblical narrative criticism (Alter, Bar-Efrat, Fokkelman) and canonical-linguistic theology (Vanhoozer), this article reads Genesis 37-50 in its final form and analyzes its plot movement, recurring motifs, patterns of reversal, and retrospective theological speech. The study argues that divine providence in the Joseph narrative is disclosed not primarily through overt miracle, but through hidden yet effective divine governance working through suffering, betrayal, slavery, imprisonment, political elevation, and reconciliation. Particular attention is given to Genesis 50:20 as the theological climax of the narrative, where human evil and divine intention are held together without collapsing moral responsibility. The findings demonstrate that the Joseph story presents providence as God's governance of history toward the preservation of life, a governance that is narratively grounded, ethically serious, and irreducible to personal success or doctrinal formula. This reading contributes to Biblical Studies by offering an integrated account of providence across the whole Joseph narrative, one that holds literary shape and theological claim within a single interpretive frame.