Posts by Kenneth Way

Kenneth Way

Kenneth Way's passion is teaching the Old Testament in its ancient Near Eastern environment. His research interests include the book of Judges, Israelite religion/archaeology, Northwest Semitic inscriptions and the fauna of the ancient Near East. He regularly presents at academic meetings and has been published in Ugarit-Forschungen, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, Journal of Biblical Literature, Levant, and Dictionary of the Old Testament: Historical Books. Ever since his college days, Way has sensed God's calling to teach Bible (especially Old Testament) in a classroom setting and to mentor students who desire more of God in their lives.

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The Good Book Blog
What Was the Old Covenant Good For?
Kenneth Way — February 05, 2025
“It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Heb. 10:4 NIV). This affirmation about the Old Covenant is true because only...
The Good Book Blog
Was the Old Covenant Defective?
Kenneth Way — January 08, 2025
In Hebrews 8:7-8 we read: “For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. For He finds...
The Good Book Blog
Caregiving and Godliness
Kenneth Way — October 16, 2024
Almost everyone is a caregiver in some capacity. Whether counseling friends, parenting children, educating students, pastoring a church, caring for...
The Good Book Blog
Enemy Bodies in the Book of Judges
Kenneth Way — January 27, 2023
I was privileged to write a chapter about the book of Judges for a volume that honors my doctoral advisor, professor Nili S. Fox. My contribution...
The Good Book Blog
Hebrew Word Studies and Samson's Obscene Gestures
Kenneth Way — January 25, 2023
I was privileged to contribute a chapter titled “The Lost World of Lexical Semantics: Samson’s Spectacle in Judges 16:25” in For Us, but Not to Us...
The Good Book Blog
Psalm 23: Yahweh Hosts Me!
Kenneth Way — August 26, 2022
On this day three years ago, I blogged about Psalm 23 from the perspective of ancient Near Eastern studies and my personal battle with the enemy of...
The Good Book Blog
The Futility of Faithless Living Under the Sun
Kenneth Way — July 11, 2022
In this post I want to revisit a topic from my previous post “Faithful Wisdom for Significance and Suffering” by expanding on the message of...
The Good Book Blog
Faithful Wisdom for Significance and Suffering
Kenneth Way — May 02, 2022
The wisdom literature of the Hebrew Bible is found in the five poetic books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs. This biblical...
The Good Book Blog
Scripture is for us, but not to us
Kenneth Way — October 01, 2021
I want to announce the recent publication of a collection of essays in honor of the highly esteemed Bible professor, John H. Walton. The title is ...
Talbot Magazine
Best of the Blog
A Cancer Patient Looks at Psalm 23
Kenneth Way — June 17, 2020
Psalm 23 is not exactly about shepherds or sheep. It is a royal psalm about King YHWH and his covenant relationship with the Davidic king, and it...
The Good Book Blog
An Ancient Near East Scholar (and Cancer Patient) Looks at Psalm 23
Kenneth Way — August 26, 2019
Psalm 23 is not exactly about shepherds or sheep. It is a royal psalm about King YHWH and his covenant relationship with the Davidic king, and it...
The Good Book Blog
Gleaning Today
Kenneth Way — July 22, 2019
A recent cover article for Christianity Today, devoted to “The Gleaner’s Edge,” shows the modern-day power of an Old Testament practice to transform how we do business.
The Good Book Blog
A Prayer for the King (Psalm 72): Part 2
Kenneth Way — March 12, 2019
Previously we considered the original application of Psalm 72 as a coronation prayer for a Davidic king, but here we explore how Psalm 72 serves...
The Good Book Blog
A Prayer for the King (Psalm 72): Part 1
Kenneth Way — March 07, 2019
As an Israelite coronation prayer, Psalm 72 describes the objectives for every new king in the Davidic dynasty. In this first installment, we...
The Good Book Blog
The Meaning of the Minor Judges
Kenneth Way — October 22, 2018
Kenneth C. Way expands on some comments that were made in his recent commentary on Judges and Ruth.
Talbot Magazine
Shelf Life
Recent publications from our very own Talbot Faculty.
Gary McIntosh, Ryan Peterson, Scott Rae, Kenneth Way — June 15, 2017
Growing God’s Church: How People Are Actually Coming to Faith Today; Introducing Christian Ethics: A Short Guide to Making Moral Choices; The Imago Dei as Human Identity: A Theological Interpretation; Judges and Ruth, Teach the Text Commentary Series
The Good Book Blog
King David in Archaeology
Kenneth Way — June 07, 2017
In his forthcoming summative book, called Beyond the Texts, the Syro-Palestinian archaeologist William G. Dever summarizes what is presently known about ancient Israel and Judah based primarily on the artifacts—the material culture that includes textual sources. One example is Dever’s portrait of the historical King David. He offers the following seven propositions about David that are inferred from archaeology and also converge with what is attested in biblical texts ...
The Good Book Blog
Ruth in the Days of the Judges
Kenneth Way — September 26, 2016
The book of Ruth presents the inspiring journey of God’s people from tragedy to triumph. The story is a mirror opposite of Israel’s depressing journey from triumph to tragedy that is presented in the book of Judges.
The Good Book Blog
Ruth as a Wisdom Story
Kenneth Way — October 05, 2015
One of the ways to interpret the idyllic story of Ruth is to read it as a wisdom text—an illustration of God’s order in the lives of his faithful people. There are a number of good reasons to read Ruth in this way ...
The Good Book Blog
The Dead Sea Scrolls in Los Angeles
Kenneth Way — June 30, 2015
The Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the California Science Center offers a historic opportunity to see artifacts and manuscripts from what is arguably the most significant archaeological discovery of the twentieth century. The Dead Sea Scrolls are precious to Jews and Christians of all backgrounds because of what they contribute to our understanding of textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible, the beliefs and practices of ancient Judaism and the cultural background of the New Testament.
The Good Book Blog
Christians Against the Law?
Kenneth Way — December 04, 2014
To what extent should Christians follow the Old Testament law? I submit that the proper question should not be “Which laws are relevant?” but rather “How are all these laws relevant?” Instead of dismissing priests, holy places and sacrifices as unrelated to Christian living, one would do better, in my opinion, to explore how God is revealed through all of these and how God specifically relates to the ritual categories of space, status and time in the contemporary Christian experience.
The Good Book Blog
Windows to the Ancient World of the Hebrew Bible
Kenneth Way — June 03, 2014
I want to recommend a recent book that brings honor to one of my teachers, Rabbi and Professor Samuel Greengus from Hebrew Union College—Jewish Institute of Religion. It is called Windows to the Ancient World of the Hebrew Bible: Essays in Honor of Samuel Greengus (Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2014), and it is edited by Bill Arnold, Nancy Erickson and John Walton.
The Good Book Blog
Is the Bible Wrong about Camels in Genesis?
Kenneth Way — February 19, 2014
Recent news reports[1] are claiming that the references to camels in the patriarchal narratives (Gen 12:16; etc.) of Genesis are “anachronistic,” or historically out of place, because there is allegedly no evidence for camel domestication before the tenth century BC. This claim is actually not new, since it was made by W. F. Albright over seventy years ago, but is it true?
The Good Book Blog
Canaanization: Israel’s Problem and Ours
Kenneth Way — October 28, 2013
I recently completed a manuscript on the book of Judges for Baker’s Teach the Text Commentary Series. It took me about three and a half years to write the short text, and I want to share just a few highlights from what I learned during my study.
The Good Book Blog
Teach the Text Commentary Series
Kenneth Way — September 29, 2013
2013 is the inaugural year of an innovative biblical commentary series edited by John Walton and Mark Straus (published by Baker Books). It’s called Teach the Text because that is what it is about: helping people to teach the biblical text effectively. It combines literary, background and exegetical analysis with theological, pedagogical and homiletical discussion. But it does this in a surprisingly concise and accessible manner.