My research is focused on the interpretations of biblical texts in the contexts of ancient culture, languages, and history.
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Occasionally I bump into people who doubt that Jesus (Yeshua) ever existed, deeming him to be a fictional character like Hercules, Lochness Monster, or Santa Claus. I am not surprised that people have trouble recognizing who Yeshua was, what he did. I am not even surprised that people fail to
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On December 25, Christians around the world will gather to celebrate Jesus’ birth. Joyful carols, special liturgies, brightly wrapped gifts, festive foods—these all characterize the feast today, at least in the northern hemisphere. But just how did the Christmas festival originate? How did December 25 come to be associated
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Why Greek Tools Can Be Dangerous Never before have there been such powerful tools for zooming in on the details of Greek. These are useful and I’m glad to have them. But I wince when they are misused. And they are often misused. By zeroing in on single words,
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Historians have argued for centuries – in the face of contradictory primary sources – both about when and how the Roman Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity and the nature and extent of his faith. Was he a convinced believer, brought to a new understanding of God and the world by his own
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As research in Qumran scrolls continues some questions are answered and new ones arise. There is still so much we do not know about the Qumran texts collection. There are still so many things we are trying to piece together in regards to the people who left those scrolls behind.
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In this article, I want to discuss the importance of context, terminology and precise translation of the original text (be it Greek or Hebrew). When it comes to the interpretation of biblical texts and conclusions drawn from them these building blocks are the foundation. Theology cannot exist without interpretation and
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Can you read the Bible in the original languages? Yes, anyone can! Well, if you don’t know how yet, you can certainly learn… And there is a way to do that without taking many years to learn Greek and Hebrew. Don’t get me wrong some study is required,
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A gold earring portraying the head of a horned animal was unearthed under the Givati Parking lot near Jerusalem’s City of David National Park. The earring belongs to the second or third century B.C.E. > “The jewelry was found inside a building that was unearthed during the
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Many people know that the Bible they read is a transition. How can a serious student of the Bible go beyond the English text of the Bible? The answer to this question is not always simple and it is not the same for everyone. The translations are never perfect, no
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Researchers from Israel Antiquities Authority, the Safed Academic College, and the Israel Cave Explorers Club embarked on an intricate excavation mission to the cave on a cliff face near the Lebanon border. And their daring efforts paid off. Inside the cave, they found large wine jugs, a cooking pot, and
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A remarkable papyrus written in Coptic was uncovered during a 1934 expedition by New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. The manuscript was preserved by the Met but had never been deciphered or detailed in a scientific journal until now. It is a 1,500-year-old ‘magical papyrus’, probably meant to
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Minute inaccuracies in radiocarbon dating may cause a massive overhaul of the historical timeline, researchers studying anomalies in this dating method have found. By questioning certain assumptions underlying radiocarbon dating, a team of researchers at Cornell University have uncovered 20-year offsets in the calibration of radiocarbon dating used in the