Scripture and Tradition Bible Studies

Book 5 is the final section of the psalter. It's the longest, but happiest of all five books. Psalm 107 serves as the "overture" of the remaining psalms that focus on the restoration of Israel from e…

God will assuredly have mercy on Israel in exile and restore Zion, but repentance must come first. In Psalm 101, David leads his people towards repentance with a statement of intent to purge his hous…

Book 4 begins with Psalm 90, the only psalm attributed to Moses. Now that King David is gone, and the people are in exile, it's time for Israel to look back farther into history for advice on how to …

Psalm 82 speak of how God sits in judgement against the corrupt leaders of Israel, who are called "gods" because they receive God's own authority to rule the people justly and righteously. Because th…

Book 3 of the Psalter begins with Psalm 73. These are the darkest psalms of the psalter as the Davidic kingdom, Jerusalem, and the Temple have been destroyed and the people lament to God asking how l…

To call God "Rock" means more than just stating metaphorically that he is sturdy and secure. There are Exodus and Temple images behind this description that Psalms 62-64 allude to, making this title …

Psalm 50 teaches that the todah/thanksgiving sacrifice is superior to all others and God calls us to offer it up regularly to him with sincere hearts. That is the context in which Psalm 51, the great…

As the deer seeks living waters, so too does my soul seek for you, my God. Such beautiful language and imagery begins the second book of the psalter, which focuses on the glory of the Kingdom of Davi…

 The Psalms proclaim that the man who confesses his sins is freed from guilt and truly blessed. To hold onto our sins causes us terrible suffering that affects our entire person.

Enjoy this sample fr…

Psalm 22 is one of the most famous christological prophecies in the Old Testament. Jesus quotes it from the cross intentionally to show that his passion and glorification was graphically foretold and…

Psalms 11-21 continue to develop the main themes of Psalms 1-2, which are the way of the righteous vs. the way of the wicked, and the suffering, yet righteous king who cries out to God for deliveranc…

Psalms 1-2 form the introduction for the entire Psalter and are incredibly important for understanding its major themes and lessons. Indeed, Psalm 2 is so crucial that it is one of the most quoted ps…

The Psalms are arguably the most popular book of the Old Testament. Indeed, St. Thomas Aquinas says that they contain the whole of Theology within them and St. Anthanasius says they are a mirror for …

2 Maccabees closes on a very high note with the story of how God's great mercy is poured out upon his people because of the faithful prayers of the Jewish martyrs. God's wrath turned to mercy.

Enjoy …

2 Maccabees zooms in on the story of the rededication of the Temple and the crushing Hellenistic persecution with some pretty gruesome and yet inspiring details missing in 1 Maccabees. The book opens…

After the death of Judas Maccabeus, his brothers Jonathan and Simon carry the torch to further free Judea from the Greek tyranny. As they make great strides towards freedom, even forming what became …

The persecutions leveled by Antiochus IV against the Jewish people lead to the courageous resistance movement under the leadership of Judas Maccabeus. For the first time in salvation history we see s…

The era of Hellenization was fierce, both in terms of the oppression against the Jews, and with respect to the zealous faith of God's people who chose to fight for God, the law, and the Temple!

Enjoy…

Queen Esther proves to be incredibly brave and heroic by approaching King Ahasuerus on her own. She is risking her life by doing so, but it is worth the risk to save the lives of her people. Yet, we …

God reveals the upcoming days of persecution and battle in an apocalyptic dream to a faithful Jew named Mordecai. In this dream, two dragons will battle each other and the righteous people will overc…