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,
A handful of ancient Israelite inscriptions feature an enigmatic title that has been variously translated as “governor of the city” and “commander of the fortress.” Who was this figure? This late eighth-century B.C.E. bulla discovered near Jerusalem’
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
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
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
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
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 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
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
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
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
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
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.
