the long way home

Marginalia Weekly Round-Up | October 25–29, 2026

Paul Burkhart — Fri, 30 Oct 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Sometimes Scripture challenges our assumptions with an elaborate story or an unsettling command. Other times, it’s a single sentence, a strangely worded question, or a familiar verse that suddenly feels different when we notice its surroundings.

This week’s Marginalia moves between humor, trust, doubt, and some uncomfortable questions about how we read the Bible.

The Faith of an Unplanted Field | Leviticus 25:19–22

What happens when trusting God means leaving an entire field alone?

Purple Curtains and Golden Goblets | Esther 1:6–7

Gold couches. Purple curtains. A royal banquet described with almost suspicious enthusiasm.

A Hilarious Reason Not to Gloat | Proverbs 24:17–18

Apparently, there are consequences to enjoying your enemy’s misfortune that you might not have anticipated.

The Same Question, a Different Response | Luke 1:34

Two people question an angel. One small difference—or perhaps something much deeper.

A Beloved Verse in an Uncomfortable Place | 1 Peter 2:24–25

Sometimes the hardest part of reading Scripture is discovering what surrounds the verses we love.

From the Margins

Male Headship & Societal Injustice | Esther 1:17–22

Monday’s observation notices the lavish literary portrayal of Persian royal power. This older Marginalia follows the opening scene into the king’s response to Vashti and the consequences of his court’s authority.

Elsewhere in the Archive

An Open Response to Some Atheist Friends Regarding Slavery & Biblical Ethics (Part 1)

Thursday’s note confronts the unsettling context of a beloved verse in 1 Peter. This older essay explores the larger question of biblical texts that appear to accommodate practices Christians now condemn.

A Beloved Verse in an Uncomfortable Place | 1 Peter 2.24–25

Paul Burkhart — Thu, 29 Oct 2026 14:00:00 +0000

He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.
—1 Peter 2:24–25

Wow. I never noticed that this verse that’s been so precious to me for so long is actually the concluding argument of this support for slavery and for slaves staying with masters even when they are evil. Shit.

For more on this theme, read: An Open Response to Some Atheist Friends Regarding Slavery & Biblical Ethics (Part 1).

More: Marginalia on 1 Peter · Browse all Marginalia · Browse by Bible book

The Same Question, a Different Response | Luke 1.34

Paul Burkhart — Wed, 28 Oct 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”
—Luke 1:34

What?! She expresses the very same question as Zechariah. Doubt is more than skin or word deep. There is a kind of doubting that takes you further away from God, and a type of doubting that draws you closer and draws God’s favor.

For more on this theme, read: Mary: Ordained as Prophetess, Priestess, & Queen.

More: Marginalia on Luke · Browse all Marginalia · Browse by Bible book

A Hilarious Reason Not to Gloat | Proverbs 24.17–18

Paul Burkhart — Tue, 27 Oct 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Do not rejoice when your enemies fall, and do not let your heart be glad when they stumble, lest the Lord see it and be displeased and turn away his anger from them.
—Proverbs 24:17–18

The logic of this is hilarious. Don’t be too happy when your enemies are being punished, or else God will stop punishing them! Maybe this is talking about justice? Or maybe it is the idea that the punishment of the wicked is in response to the suffering of the righteous, and so if you become happy when they are being punished, your suffering is therefore not continuing and there is no longer a need for the wicked to be punished? I don’t know. I am stretching a little.

More: Marginalia on Proverbs · Browse all Marginalia · Browse by Bible book

Purple Curtains and Golden Goblets | Esther 1.6–7

Paul Burkhart — Mon, 26 Oct 2026 14:00:00 +0000

There were white cotton curtains and blue hangings tied with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and marble pillars. There were couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl, and colored stones. Drinks were served in golden goblets, goblets of different kinds, and the royal wine was lavished according to the bounty of the king.
—Esther 1:6–7

Good gracious, this introduction and these descriptions are so embellished, detailed, and over the top, that this sounds a whole lot more like a story, or a composed piece of literature, far more than an historical account.

More: Marginalia on Esther · Browse all Marginalia · Browse by Bible book

The Faith of an Unplanted Field | Leviticus 25.19–22

Paul Burkhart — Sun, 25 Oct 2026 14:00:00 +0000

The land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and live on it securely. Should you ask, ‘What shall we eat in the seventh year, if we may not sow or gather in our crop?’ I will order my blessing for you in the sixth year, so that it will yield a crop for three years. When you sow in the eighth year, you will be eating from the old crop; until the ninth year, when its produce comes in, you shall eat the old.
—Leviticus 25:19–22

Holy crap, what a way to force people into an act of faith. There’s literally no way they could hedge their bets. A year without growing food and just trusting God to bring the yield? Wow.

More: Marginalia on Leviticus · Browse all Marginalia · Browse by Bible book

Marginalia Weekly Round-Up | October 18–22, 2026

Paul Burkhart — Fri, 23 Oct 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Some biblical passages become stranger when we notice the reactions around them: the worship, the anger, the celebration, the reassurance, and the disagreement. This week’s Marginalia follows those reactions into questions that don’t always resolve neatly.

Worship Before Deliverance | Exodus 4:30–31

Why do the Israelites worship before they’re free?

Samuel’s Unanswered Anger | 1 Samuel 15:10–11

A prophet’s sleepless night raises a question we usually skip.

Creation’s Strange Celebration | Psalm 96:11–13

The forest starts singing at the moment we least expect.

A Strange Kind of Encouragement | Isaiah 8:9–10

Three familiar words sound unexpectedly different in Isaiah’s mouth.

When the Spirit Seems to Disagree | Acts 21:12–14

A prophecy, a journey, and an unsettling question about what obedience looks like.

From the Margins

Confirm Everything, Even the Holy Spirit | Acts 13:2–3

In this older Marginalia, the early church continues fasting and praying even after the Spirit has spoken. Read alongside Thursday’s Acts passage, it raises a question about receiving spiritual guidance and discerning how to act on it.

Elsewhere in the Archive

Make Kingdomtide Great Again

Tuesday’s Psalm reflection finds creation celebrating God’s coming judgment. This older essay considers why the church might need an entire season devoted to Christ’s reign, judgment, and the renewal of creation.

When the Spirit Seems to Disagree | Acts 21.12–14

Paul Burkhart — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 14:00:00 +0000

When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” Since he would not be persuaded, we remained silent except to say, “The Lord’s will be done.”
—Acts 21:12–14

I’m so confused here. Disciples (through the Spirit) and prophets and church leaders all tell Paul not to go, and the text seems to imply they really are speaking the words of God. So what is Paul doing? And isn’t the same Spirit also encouraging him to go in the first place?

For more on this theme, read: A Brief History of Christian Thoughts on Discernment.

More: Marginalia on Acts · Browse all Marginalia · Browse by Bible book

A Strange Kind of Encouragement | Isaiah 8.9–10

Paul Burkhart — Wed, 21 Oct 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Take notice, you peoples, and be dismayed; listen, all you far countries; gird yourselves and be dismayed! Take counsel together, but it shall be brought to naught; speak a word, but it will not stand, for God is with us.
—Isaiah 8:9–10

He is telling people to be dismayed and that all will be for naught precisely because God is with them. The tone of these verses sounds like it is trying to strengthen and encourage even as it promises judgment. And the basis for all of that is God’s presence among them.

For more on this theme, read: Advent & Hoping for God to Be With Us.

More: Marginalia on Isaiah · Browse all Marginalia · Browse by Bible book

Creation’s Strange Celebration | Psalm 96.11–13

Paul Burkhart — Tue, 20 Oct 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar and all that fills it; let the field exult and everything in it. Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord, for he is coming, for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with his truth.
—Psalm 96:11–13

All of creation is partying and celebrating because the Lord is coming to judge.

For more on this theme, read: Make Kingdomtide Great Again.

More: Marginalia on Psalms · Browse all Marginalia · Browse by Bible book