This book captures many ancient voices, a collection of literary excerpts from ancient Jewish books: Jubilees, Josephus, 4 Ezra, Qumran Scrolls, Talmud, Enoch, Baruch, Maccabees, Mishna, Judith, Apocalypse of Moses, Philo, Mishna, Ben Sira, and many others, fifty passages to be exact. The excerpts are mostly short, sometimes even intentionally
Apostle Paul was a first-century religious Jew, trained at the feet of the best rabbis of his time. Though he addresses primarily non-Jewish audiences, Shaul often writes as a rabbi, resorting to midrash and employing metaphors to illustrate his ideas. Sadly, his readers are not used to this
I wanted to share with you a Morning Prayer and, more specifically, a musical piece I created based on it. The words of this song are inspired by the words of the traditional morning blessings found in the Siddur (Jewish Prayer Book). The person who is praying in the early
What is this Sign of Jonah? The traditional thinking is that it's Jesus' resurrection, three days and three nights... But the passage may not be so simple as it appears on the surface. Interested in taking a closer look and discovering another way to read the text?
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,
Does the Gospel of John genuinely express anti-Judaic ideas? In his first-century CE narrative, "the Jews" (hoi Iudaioi; οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι) do frequently oppose Jesus. Reading the story as an outsider, one may even feel that Jesus
It is wonderful when people are optimistic, and they wish to discover the world, realizing how little they have seen. The world we live in is vast and beautiful, full of wonder. As a result, some set their sight on
Some people read the Bible as a codex of religious law, others as ancient moralistic philosophy, and many see it as a book of fairy-tale-like legends and stories. We live in exciting days when, thanks to science, many
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
No one likes rejection… 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
Psalm 4 spoke to me in a number of ways through the years. And one of those messages is the overwhelming sense of God's presence that one can experience even in the moments of distress and utter weakness.
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
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
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
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
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
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
