>Books
This academic volume that reexamines one of the most influential yet often misunderstood groups in Jewish and Christian history - The Pharisees. Long portrayed in simplistic or negative terms, especially through the lens of the New Testament, here the Pharisees are portrayed in a fuller historical, social, and religious context.
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No one likes rejection… Our weekly reading from the Prophets, in 1 Samuel 15, tells a tragic tale of how King Saul lost God’s favor. It was a time of war. He defeated the Amalekites, but did not fully follow Hashem’s instructions that he was given. He was
Video
>Seminars
The gospels are filled with ancient rabbinic theological teachings. The reason is simple, Jesus was a Rabbi, a first-century teacher of Torah. The more people understand this, the more they open a door to the depth of his words in their true context. Most of the people with whom he
Video
Not many people have read the Talmud. Why? Because though it is a monumental work of Jewish literature it is comprised of 63 tractates and 523 chapters, totaling around 2 million words. It's like an encyclopedia with various contributions that span more than 1800 years. And its language
>Seminars
The Bible speaks about the spiritual duties of priests and Levites, about the exploits of the prophets, kings, and scribes, but it does not mention the Rabbis. To understand this new class of religious teachers, one has to trace their origins and history. What put Rabbis into the center of
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In our reading from the Prophets, Hosea speaks of his deep love for Israel and his people. But the book is not at all simple. Hashem deliberately asked the prophet to marry a wayward and promiscuous woman so that Hosea would understand how God felt betrayed in his love and
Over the years of teaching, I have often referred my students to the books of Enoch. But most of the time, I did so with some reservations. I knew that the broadly distributed copies they would likely come across would be littered with archaic and hard-to-digest language. Finally, between 2023
If you like perusing Pshir.com, then what are the odds you might enjoy my books? I invite you to consider the titles I highlight below in print, in digital format, or as audiobooks. Paid Subscribers can flip through full digital versions of all these titles inside the READ section.
Do you like to listen to your books? I am excited to announce that thanks to my partnership with Amazon and Audible, some of my new translations are now available as audiobooks! The Apocalypse of Abraham HERE and The Apocalypse of Moses HERE. I personally love holding paper books in
If you are looking for a way to dig into the Hebrew and Greek of the Bible and get access to great dictionaries and research tools I frequently use, I have just partnered with Logos - my favorite Bible Software. We share a common value of putting the Bible first,
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Not long ago, an acquaintance of mine, a seasoned gentleman, asked me, "What is sin?" It was an honest question, not a trick one, and without any sarcasm or ulterior motive. He was completely sincere and open-minded to hear my answer. It stunned me for a moment because
If you don't know what shofar is, it's an obscure item, a ritual instrument, and its name comes from ancient Hebrew. It is a special trumpet used in Jewish holiday observance, connected to the Jewish new year and Day of Atonement (Lev 23:24). Shofar (שׁ
If Jesus was indeed a first-century Rabbi, then does that mean he embraced the beliefs, teachings, and conventions other rabbis of his day employed? Consider what it meant to be a teacher of Torah in the first century and explore the language and teaching techniques of ancient rabbis. Learn about
Dr. Brad Young invites readers to explore how rabbinic thought shaped the world of Jesus and the New Testament—and why that same tradition holds relevance for today’s readers of scripture. Rabbinic teachings provide profound insight into how to live meaningfully and ethically in harmony with God and with
Dr. Brad Young is head of the Gospel Research Center and author of several books on Jesus' parables and ministry in their Jewish context. In this lecture, Dr. Young discusses why rabbinic literature is, unfortunately, so often dismissed as a valuable source for understanding Jesus’ teachings. A common response
I find the words of Psalm 27 comforting, and they always lift my spirit. God is my stronghold in so many ways. I pray that these words and music will lift your spirit as they do mine, and the deep awareness that God is our stronghold will never leave us.
What are the Dead Sea Scrolls? In the area of biblical and historical studies, the Dead Sea Scrolls are considered one of the greatest archaeological finds of all time. That is not an exaggeration. The documents were awaiting the day of their discovery in 11 caves near the Dead Sea
A while back, I was asked to teach a course surveying the prophetic books of the Bible to a college class. As I compiled my notes together, I wanted to present my students not merely the information about the ancient texts themselves, but to describe the world in which the
Ancient Scrolls found in Israel, in the caves of the Qumran region near the Dead Sea in the 1940s, were the find of the 20th century. An impressive collection of ancient Jewish writings contained what is now the oldest known copies of Biblical texts. In this 1st session, I explain
Some commandments in Torah are more elaborate and detailed, and others are somewhat straightforward and simple. Yet all of them teach how to apply wisdom in life in all situations. This week, I pondered over a commandment concerning the bird’s nest. Torah says if one comes upon a nest
The Gabriel Revelation is an inscription on a stone found in Jordan dating back to around the beginning of the Common Era, roughly to the time of the birth of Jesus. It is the subject of a book by Israel Knohl, Messiahs and Resurrection in the Gabriel Revelation, published in
Prof. Israel Knohl shares curious evidence for a messianic precursor to Jesus who is described as the "Suffering Servant" in recently published fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Many scholars have long argued that the concept of a slain savior Messiah who rises from the dead, was alien