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1. Definition The word “nomad” is derived from Latin through Gk. nemō, meaning either “pasture” or “distribute.” The simplest definition of a nomad is a person who must keep moving to gain basic life sustenance. Nomadism is usually the product of a sparse environment, weather patterns (sometimes seasonal), or economic or political shifts making mobility essential for survival. It does not properly apply to immigrants, those who move from one dwelling place to another for convenience, promotion, or escapi…

1. Biblical Foundations Jewish mission does not have merely an abstract basis (e.g., Christianity’s claim to absoluteness or the universal nature of salvation) but rests partly on the concrete experiences of earliest Christianity. Jesus was aware of being sent to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt. 15:24), and it was to them that he symbolically sent out the Twelve (Mark 6:7–13). Furthermore, the message of Jesus as Messiah spread first “in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria” (Acts 1:8), and then in other places to Jews and various God-fearers. In the initial st…

The original meaning of “hermeneutics” is “translation” in the broadest sense: the authoritative communication of a message (e.g., from God) that needs a mediator, the rendering of a text from one language into another, and the exposition of something said or written with a view to bringing out its meaning. The term is derived from the Greek hermēneuō, “interpret, explain, translate.” The root derives from the name of the Greek god Hermes, the mediator of meaning between the realm of gods and that of human beings. In the NT the term (including its use with the prefixes dia. and meta-) is t…

Overview One may rightly ask whether Jews and Christians really have an ethics per se. For them the law of the Lord is perfect, “reviving the soul” and “making wise the simple” (Ps. 19:7; see also Psalm 119). The Jews carefully expound and specify this law in the Talmud, while Christians see it fulfilled in the risen Lord and find in it an offer of comprehensive freedom and direction. Theologians have made this point, especially when criticizing systems of ethics. Yet believers in every age have theorized about their conduct and fo…