Posts by Gary Manning Jr

Gary Manning Jr

Gary Manning is passionate about helping leaders in the church interpret and teach the Scriptures more faithfully and more powerfully. He is a professor of New Testament languages and literatures and the director of the Master of Divinity program at Talbot School of Theology. Gary studied at Talbot and Fuller, and focuses his studies on the Gospel of John, the Synoptic Gospels, and the use of the Old Testament in the New Testament. He is the author of Echoes of a Prophet: The Use of Ezekiel in the Gospel of John and in Literature of the Second Temple Period (T&T Clark, 2004). Gary has been involved in various kinds of Christian ministry for over thirty years, including youth ministry, church planting, and teaching ministry, and still maintains active ministry in the church. At home, Gary spends his time with his wife Barbara and their ten children.

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The Good Book Blog
Soldiers in the Gospels
Gary Manning Jr — April 27, 2026
This blog post was originally published on the Good Book Blog in 2011. When I teach or preach from the Gospels, I always bring in relevant aspects...
The Good Book Blog
The Holy Spirit and Grammatical Gender
Gary Manning Jr — February 09, 2026
The New Testament clearly presents the Holy Spirit as a person. The Spirit is described as doing things and experiencing things that only make...
The Good Book Blog
Simon the Zealot was not a Zealot!
Gary Manning Jr — October 08, 2025
In season 2 of the popular television series The Chosen, the apostle Simon the Zealot is depicted as a former assassin from the Zealot party — with...
The Good Book Blog
Jews do not “associate with” Samaritans? Or do not “share vessels with” Samaritans? Or something else? (John 4:9)
Gary Manning Jr — July 30, 2025
In John 4:9, the Samaritan woman is surprised that Jesus asked her for water from the well. The reason for her surprise is that “Jews do not ____...
The Good Book Blog
“God so loved” or “God loved in this way”?
Gary Manning Jr — May 05, 2025
The traditional English translation of John 3:16 begins with the well-known “For God so loved the world, that he gave…” A few modern translations...
The Good Book Blog
Yes, Jesus was Crucified with Nails
Gary Manning Jr — April 25, 2025
This article was first published at ChurchLeaders. After it was published, the author of the Christianity Today article, Daniel Sulliman, posted...
The Good Book Blog
Herod, the King of the Jews
Gary Manning Jr — December 23, 2024
When the magi showed up in Bethlehem, they asked “Where is he who was born King of the Jews?” (Matt 2:2). Why did this question cause Herod to...
Talbot Magazine
Best of the Blog: Fall 2022
“Paid in Full”? The Meaning of τετέλεσται (Tetelestai) in Jesus’ Final Words
Gary Manning Jr — December 14, 2022
There are a lot of interesting claims about historical background to the New Testament that float around, especially on social media. I tell my...
The Good Book Blog
“Paid in Full”? The Meaning of τετέλεσται (Tetelestai) in Jesus’ Final Words
Gary Manning Jr — April 20, 2022
There are a lot of interesting claims about the historical background to the New Testament that float around, especially on social media. I tell my...
The Good Book Blog
More Skubala: Did the Apostle Paul use Swear Words?
Gary Manning Jr — March 24, 2022
In a previous post, Did the Apostle Paul Use Profanity?, I debunked the claim that σκύβαλα (skubala, rubbish or waste), a word used by Paul in...
The Good Book Blog
What are Swaddling Clothes?
Gary Manning Jr — December 20, 2021
Luke tells us that Mary “gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes” (Luke 2:7). Later, the angel told the shepherds...
Talbot Magazine
New Program Roundup: Summer 2021
An introduction to the latest programs arriving this summer and fall.
Eddie Byun, Brandon Cash, Dave Keehn, Gary Manning Jr — June 16, 2021
Master of Divinity Now Offered Fully Online Talbot School of Theology is launching its widely respected Master of Divinity in a fully online...
Talbot Magazine
Best of the Blog: Summer 2021
New Dead Sea Scroll Discovery: A Closer Look
Gary Manning Jr — June 16, 2021
You may have seen one of the many articles about some new fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) that were recently discovered. Fascinating stuff!...
The Good Book Blog
New Dead Sea Scroll Discovery: A Closer Look
Gary Manning Jr — March 17, 2021
You may have seen one of the many articles about some new fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) that were recently discovered. Fascinating stuff!...
The Good Book Blog
Can you read "Peter Rabbit" in Greek?
Gary Manning Jr — November 13, 2020
I am happy to announce the publication of Peter Rabbit and Other Stories in Koine Greek with GlossaHouse. It includes three of Beatrix Potter’s...
Talbot Magazine
Best of the Blog
Paul's Name Change
Gary Manning Jr — June 04, 2019
Did Saul change his name to Paul when he became a follower of Jesus? This seems to be a common opinion among Christians. Shortly before the movie ...
The Good Book Blog
Paul’s Name Change
Gary Manning Jr — February 06, 2019
Did Saul change his name to Paul when he became a follower of Jesus? This seems to be a common opinion among Christians. Shortly before the movie “...
The Good Book Blog
Solving Interpretational Problems
Gary Manning Jr — January 02, 2019
When you are trying to make sense of a passage of Scripture – that is, a full scene or paragraph –you often need to decide between two competing...
Talbot Magazine
Streamlining Seminary
Innovative New B.A. + M.A. Program Prepares Students to Enter Pastoral Ministry More Quickly
Gary Manning Jr — November 13, 2017
Several students have taken advantage of one of Talbot’s newest programs, an innovative combination of two degrees: a bachelor’s degree in biblical and theological studies with a concentration in preaching and pastoral ministry (B.A. PPM), and a master’s degree in Christian ministry and leadership with a specialization in preaching and pastoral ministry (M.A. PPM).
The Good Book Blog
Problem Passages in The Message
Gary Manning Jr — November 29, 2016
My friend Ken Berding wrote a recent blog post explaining his concerns about using The Message. As he pointed out, people often treat it as a Bible translation, when it is actually a very loose paraphrase. One of Ken’s observations is that The Message routinely adds meaning to or subtracts meaning from the original Greek and Hebrew text. While doing detailed work in the Greek New Testament and in several English translations, I have repeatedly found this to be true.
The Good Book Blog
Misinterpreting the Thief (John 10:10)
Gary Manning Jr — April 28, 2016
In Jesus’ Shepherd Discourse in John 10, Jesus contrasts himself with “the thief.” “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life and have it in abundance.” If you hear this verse quoted in a sermon, or see how people use this verse online, you will usually hear that the thief is Satan. But is that what Jesus meant?
The Good Book Blog
Did the Apostle Paul Use Profanity?
Gary Manning Jr — October 01, 2015
In Philippians 3:8, the apostle Paul compares his religious credentials to knowing Jesus. The difference could hardly be more emphatic: “knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” is of “surpassing value,” but Paul’s past success is like σκύβαλα (skubala). σκύβαλα is commonly translated as rubbish, refuse, or garbage, but sometimes more strongly as dung, in both ancient and modern translations (Vulgate, Tyndale, KJV, NET). Some have suggested another four-letter translation, stronger than dung. While teaching Greek, I used to say that σκύβαλα is the closest thing to a swear word you can find in the New Testament - and I was repeating something that I had heard or read quite a few times. C. Spicq's Greek lexicon even suggests that σκύβαλα should be rendered crap. But is it true? Is σκύβαλα a swear word, or maybe a rude word? Or is it unobjectionable?
The Good Book Blog
Does "I Am" always refer to God in the Gospel of John?
Gary Manning Jr — September 21, 2015
It is commonly claimed that when Jesus used the phrase “I am” (ἐγώ εἰμι, ego eimi), he was making a direct reference to the name of God in the Old Testament, YHWH. There is some truth to this, but I want to suggest three important caveats to this claim: “I am” (ἐγώ εἰμι), by itself, is not a code for the name of God; “I am” is only intended to refer to deity in some of Jesus’ sayings; Paying too much attention to the “I am” part of the sentence distracts readers from paying attention to the rest of the sentence.
The Good Book Blog
I am the Very Model of a Doctor of New Testament
Gary Manning Jr — May 13, 2015
I am the very model of a Doctor of New Testament, I exegete pericopae in weather fine or inclement, I know the difference between a codex and a Chester B, and even if a manuscript is Byzantine or Westerly.
The Good Book Blog
New Claims Regarding the “Family of Jesus” Tomb
Gary Manning Jr — April 13, 2015
“Geologist claims Jesus was married… and had a SON: Expert says he has proof son of God was buried in 'family tomb' along with wife Mary and his brother” screams the headline. The sensational headline, along with the release date on Easter weekend, should be our first warning to take the announcement with a grain of salt. To understand what these claims are, we need to go back to a (widely discredited) documentary, “The Lost Tomb of Jesus,” released by documentarist Simcha Jacobovichi in 2007.