Philip Thomas Mohr

A friend and I are studying Bonaventure’s Itinerarium Mentis in Deum. One of the opening sections struck me! mohrperspectives.net/2026/05/07/bon…

Over at @TGC I have an article on how to assess the argument that Hebrews teaches Jesus's sacrifice is a heavenly sacrifice. For a longer discussion, the article links to an essay I wrote in the WTJ from @WestminsterTS thegospelcoalition.org/article/does-j…

News: My proposal for ETS's 2026 Torah Section was accepted! God is good! mohrperspectives.net/2026/04/30/pro…

… • The business of accreditation will be a lot less lucrative. • Accreditation agencies will not be lobbying as effectively in legislatures. • Will we then finally be delivered from the manifest untruth that "if you didn't document it, it never happened"?

Last night, just before bed, I had this train of thought: • So-called A.I. will be used to process all the documents demanded for higher-ed accreditation. • Fewer people will work in accreditation. • Eventually people will figure out how to do accreditation more cheaply.…

My proposal for SBL's 2026 Matthew Section was accepted! Praise God! mohrperspectives.net/2026/04/01/pro…

@death2theturtle @echppll @AdrielTweets @solamediaorg But you've sucked me into making a case that I wouldn't even defend for myself! :)

@death2theturtle @echppll @AdrielTweets @solamediaorg Ezek 23.29 has the same question. It is possible to take המה as a relative-like pronoun whose referent matches the nearest nominal to avoid double אשׁר. "There is Edom … who … are put with the sword-slain. They [the sword-slain] lie with the uncircumcised.…"

Pastor @AdrielTweets and I should do a debate on the nephilim. @solamediaorg knows where to find me. Any candidates on who would take the hybrid demon spawn view? Cause you know I'm representing Doc Kline.

@death2theturtle @echppll @AdrielTweets @solamediaorg But note that in Ezek 14.14, these subjects are also the nearest occurring nominals at the end of the clause. My point was less about subjects/objects and more that המה doesn't "reach back" to a farther away nominal; whatever is "touching" it (with = p/g/n) is likely the referent

@ptmohr @echppll @AdrielTweets @solamediaorg Oh, Ezekiel 14:14 is a good example too, since it is an existential clause.

@death2theturtle @echppll @AdrielTweets @solamediaorg Does he have an example of an asyndetic clause where the leading noun/pronoun resumes the subject of the previous clause rather than describing or modifying one of the objects?

@ptmohr @echppll @AdrielTweets @solamediaorg Zero relatives are pretty rare, and Holmstedt argues they have to be restrictive - one of his criteria of restrictiveness is modifying only an NP the prepositional phrase couldn't serve as antecedent.

@death2theturtle @echppll @AdrielTweets @solamediaorg In those three examples, the thing being described (as in most relative clauses) is the nearest nominal—which are all objects in the previous clauses, not the farther-away subjects. That would fit with המה describing the referent of להם—mostly likely, בני האלהים.

@ptmohr @echppll @AdrielTweets @solamediaorg Introducing a proper noun then characterizing it with an asyndetic clause led by a pronoun is really common in Genesis though (e.g., Gen 2:11; 4:20; 10:8). It's more relevant to get further info on the Nephilim than spend 2/3 of the verse talking about the "sons of God."

@death2theturtle @echppll @AdrielTweets @solamediaorg Some kind of conjunction might resume a "live topic." Asyndeton is usually used for subordination (in this case, further subordination). Arnold and Choi note that it can introduce a relative clause (5.2.13.a), and that would fit well here to avoid double אשׁר.

@ptmohr @echppll @AdrielTweets @solamediaorg Grammatically, המה could refer to the sons of God, but given that the Nephilim are the live topic, and sons of God only brought up in a dependent clause, it is more likely the Nephilim.

@death2theturtle @echppll @AdrielTweets @solamediaorg But if, on Waltke's view, the sons of God are demon-influenced humans, then נפלים being on earth then—and also afterward!—is relevant, too. The נפלים would be the demons, not the offspring. (That's not my view, but it would work.)

@ptmohr @echppll @AdrielTweets @solamediaorg The "Nephilim" and "sons of God" are not identified in this verse, suggesting they are distinct groups. The Nephilim exist on the earth for a distinct time period. That time period is when sons of God are producing offspring. If the Nephilim = the offspring, the info is relevant

@death2theturtle @echppll @AdrielTweets @solamediaorg But my thinking doesn't rest on that being the case.

@death2theturtle @echppll @AdrielTweets @solamediaorg Also, looking again, it also makes good sense for המה to resume the referent of להם, the word just before it. So the בני האלהים to whom (להם) children are being born are the ones being labeled גברים and אנשׁי השׁם.

@death2theturtle @echppll @AdrielTweets @solamediaorg The description of this last group is similar to that used for Nimrod (10.8), the first post-flood "mighty man" who founds the place where humans later try to make a "name" (11.4). Warlords, imperialists. Hence why the pre-flood earth is described as filled with חמס in 6.11.

@death2theturtle @echppll @AdrielTweets @solamediaorg In this background section, הנפלים are present when the events of vv. 1–2 happen, not as a result (children) of those events. The next sentence is also marked and offline: המה הגברים…. This probably describes the children of the illicit unions: "mighty men," "men of the name"…

@death2theturtle @echppll @AdrielTweets @solamediaorg I meant that *humans* are described as wicked and depraved (Gen 6.5), regretted by God (v. 6), and judged (v. 7). We know that God does judge the non-human intelligences (e.g., 3.14–15), but in Gen 6 their punishment is, well, missing.

@ptmohr @echppll @AdrielTweets @solamediaorg Well the funny thing is that for Kline, angels *are* in the close context, in the heavenly council addressed in Genesis 1 (and 6:7?). Personally, once we restore "sons of God" in Deut 32:8, it seems like a very important broader context link to me.