John Buckner
Articles by John Buckner
Friends From Gath
Friends From Gath “And David arose, and he passed over with the six hundred men that were with him unto Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath. And David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, even David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal’s wife. And it was told Saul that David was fled to Gath: and he sought no more again for him” (2 Samuel…
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Tents in the Holy Land
“And the Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground” (Genesis 18:1-2). The stories of the patriarchs of the Bible are intertwined with their tents. We read of them moving to various places…
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The Temple Mount
The Temple Mount “And David spake unto the Lord when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father’s house. And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto the Lord in the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite. And David, according to the saying of Gad,…
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The Hope of Israel
The Hope of Israel | Mikveh in Scripture “O Lord, the hope (mikveh) of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters” (Jeremiah 17:13). The desert prophet Jeremiah used some evocative language in his poetry. One of the words he used, mikveh, comes loaded with additional meaning if you delve into the culture of the ancient people of the…
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Pillars at Gezer
Pillars at Gezer “Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree: And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place” (Deuteronomy 12:2-3). When Joshua divided the land, he assigned Gezer…
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Olive Trees
The Significance of Olive Trees “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots” (Isaiah 11:1). “For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease.Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground;Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and…
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The Sanctuary at Eleusis
The Sanctuary at Eleusis “After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth;” (Acts 18:1) Acts tells us that the idols of Athens grieved Paul’s soul, prompting him to preach on Mars Hill, just below the Parthenon. Later, Paul’s route from Athens to Corinth would have taken him down the Sacred Way past the front gate of the most prominent pagan pilgrimage site of all of antiquity: The Sanctuary at Eleusis. In Paul’s Day Every year pilgrims from…
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Impossible Orders in Bethany
“Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha….And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth” (John 11:1, 43). The biblical town of Bethany is located just east of the city of Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives. It is the setting for many famous stories from the Gospels. For example it is here that Mary chose to sit at Jesus’ feet and hear…
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Where Is The Spear?
Where Is The Spear? “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” (Ephesians 6:13). When Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus, he used imagery that was familiar to residents of the east of the Roman Empire. Specifically, he used a Greek word, panoply, to describe the Christian’s armor. This word refers to the expected set of armor with which a legionary…
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Deir Alla and Balaam’s Curse
Deir Alla and Balaam’s Curse “And Moab said unto the elders of Midian, Now shall this company lick up all that are round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field. And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time. He sent messengers therefore unto Balaam the son of Beor to Pethor, which is by the river of the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Behold,…
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Beersheba in the Bible
Beersheba “And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What mean these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves? And he said, For these seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that they may be a witness unto me, that I have digged this well. Wherefore he called that place Beersheba; because there they sware both of them. Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba: then Abimelech rose up, and…
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Wild Goats of En Gedi
And it came to pass, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi. Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats. And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet: and David and his men remained in the…
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The Arnon
The Arnon “From thence they removed, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, which is in the wilderness that cometh out of the coasts of the Amorites: for Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the Lord, What he did in the Red sea, and in the brooks of Arnon, And at the stream of the brooks that goeth down to the dwelling of Ar, and…
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Rebekah and the Camels
Rebekah and the Camels “And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher. And she said, Drink, my lord: and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink. And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking. And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and…
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The Valley of Achor
The Valley of Achor “And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor. And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the Lord shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones,…
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Nazareth
Nazareth “And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he passing through the midst of them went his way,” Luke 4:28-30 In a curious passage, the residents of Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth at first welcomed Him and listened to His message…
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Hyssop
Hyssop “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” Psalm 51:7-10 When Moses and the Israelites left Egypt, God told them to tie ezov, known as hyssop…
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Jacob’s Well
Jacob’s Well “And he must needs go through Samaria. Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink” (John 4:4-7). Jacob’s well is…
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King David’s Blessing at En Gedi
King David’s Blessing at En Gedi “And it came to pass, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi. Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats. And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet:…
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Emmaus
Emmaus In The New Testament “And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs.” Luke 24:13 Jesus liked to hike. That much is clear from the Bible, where He frequently walked from Galilee to Judea, crossed the Rift Valley, and once went up to Tyre and Sidon, which are located in modern Lebanon. On the day of His resurrection from the dead, He once again set out on…
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The Samaritan Temple
The Samaritan Temple “Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.” John 4:20-21 The Samaritan temple stood on Mount Gerizim, near biblical Shechem and modern Nablus. Ultimately, the Jews, under John Hyrcanus, destroyed it in the first century BC. As is well known, Samaritans…
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Paul in Corinth
Paul in Corinth “And when Gallio was the deputy of Achaia, the Jews made insurrection with one accord against Paul, and brought him to the judgment seat, Saying, This fellow persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law. And when Paul was now about to open his mouth, Gallio said unto the Jews, If it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness, O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you: But if it be a question…
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The Castle of the Servant
The Castle of the Servant “When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel” (Nehemiah 2:10). An enigmatic figure of Scripture is Tobiah the Ammonite. He came from a clan that may or may not have been Jewish. The Bible, ancient writings, and archeology all attest to the Tobiads. They lived in Ammon, east of the Jordan…
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Where Was the House on Pentecost?
“And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.” Acts 2:1-3 Pentecost, also known as the Feast of Weeks, comes fifty days after Passover. Along with Passover and Tabernacles,…
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Bible Valleys
The Hebrew Bible uses several words for a valley. The largest valley is the emek, which is a wide, U-shaped valley. The valley of Elah, famous for the fight between David and Goliath (1 Samuel 17), is one example from the Bible, the Jezreel Valley is another. (A related valley type is bikah, but that word is less common.) Another common word in the Bible is the word nahal, which means a V-shaped valley with a stream at the bottom.…
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