Who did Jacob wrestle with in the Bible? Phyllis Trible connects this episode to her own struggle with feminism and the Bible in her Biblical Views column “Wrestling with Faith.” Read more…
Bible Interpretation
Bible interpretation covers the many issues in Bible study and understanding such as the historical-critical method, the documentary hypothesis, the two-source hypothesis, and the fundamental/literal approach.
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Jacob in the Bible
• 05/08/2018
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Who Is Satan?
• 05/07/2018
Does our modern conception of Satan have any resemblance to the devil in the Bible? Just who is Satan? Read more…
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The Creation of Woman in the Bible
• 05/03/2018
How was the first woman created in Genesis 2? Was she made from the man’s rib or, as recently suggested in BAR, from his os baculum? Read more…
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Does the Gospel of Mark Reveal Jesus’ Anger or His Compassion?
• 04/27/2018
In the fifth-century C.E. Codex Bezae, an early edition of the New Testament written in Greek, the Gospel of Mark describes Jesus’ anger before healing a leper (Mark 1:41). While Read more…
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Job Challenges God by Suing: God Responds
• 04/25/2018
After losing his health, wealth and children in inexplicable tragedies, the righteous and devout man Job questions God as to what he must have done to deserve such a heavy Read more…
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Love Your Neighbor: Only Israelites or Everyone?
• 04/23/2018
The Book of Leviticus tells us to love our neighbors, but who are our neighbors? Does the command mean to just love fellow Israelites—or everyone? Read more…
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Did the Ancient Israelites Think Children Were People?
• 04/16/2018
The Book of Exodus presumably reflects the views of its Israelite authors on their deity, morality, and the like. Why then would the Israelites have imagined Yahweh slaughtering Egyptian children Read more…
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Understanding Israel’s 10 Commandments
• 04/15/2018
Are the 10 Commandments really a moral code, or did the ancients understand them rather as the constitutional basis of a political theocracy? Read more…
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When Was the First Communion?
• 03/25/2018
Early Christians celebrated the Lord’s Supper as a full meal, but by the third century, it had ceased to be a banquet and had become a ritualized small meal instead. Read more…
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On What Day Did Jesus Rise?
• 03/22/2018
On what day did Jesus rise? After three days or on the third day? Ben Witherington III examines this question in BAR. Read more…
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The Virgin Mary and the Prophet Muhammad
• 03/03/2018
The Virgin Mary and the prophet Muhammad have a lot in common within their respective Christian and Islamic traditions, according to author Mary Joan Winn Leith. Read more…
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Uncovering the Jewish Context of the New Testament
• 02/16/2018
Most Jewish readers approach the New Testament, if they approach it at all, with at best a certain unfamiliarity. This is unfortunate, according to Jewish New Testament scholar Amy-Jill Levine, Read more…
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The Song of Songs: Love Is Strong as Death
• 02/14/2018
The Song of Songs (or Song of Solomon) from the Hebrew Bible is a love song beyond compare—although it has been compared to everything. Some have deemed it lewd entertainment. Read more…
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Galatians 3:28—Neither Jew nor Greek, Slave nor Free, Male and Female
• 01/12/2018
In her Biblical Views column in BAR, Biblical scholar Karin Neutel examines Paul’s vision for how we would live together in an ideal society. Read more…
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Laughter in the Bible? Absolutely!
• 01/10/2018
Robin Gallaher Branch on the lighter side of the Bible. Read more…
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What Happened to Cain in the Bible?
• 12/28/2017
What happened to Cain in the Bible? In the Book of Genesis, we are told about Cain’s birth, his violent act of fratricide and his subsequent exile. We learn that Read more…
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The Adam and Eve Story: Eve Came From Where?
• 12/21/2017
The Book of Genesis tells us that God created woman from one of Adam’s ribs. But Biblical scholar Ziony Zevit says that the traditional translation of the Biblical text is Read more…
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Christmas Stories in Christian Apocrypha
• 12/13/2017
The modern Christmas nativity scene is drawn from apocryphal texts in addition to the infancy narratives of Matthew and Luke. Read more…
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Christian Apocrypha: The “Lost Gospels”?
• 12/11/2017
The Christian apocrypha—noncanonical gospels—didn’t make the cut. But were they truly rejected, suppressed and destroyed? Until recent times there was no doubt. But now this “truth” may be unraveling. Many Read more…
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The Hungry Jesus
• 12/07/2017
Andrew McGowan challenges the tradition that Jesus was a welcoming host at meals. Read more…
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What Does the Parable of the Talents Mean?
• 11/02/2017
Richard L. Rohrbaugh examines the Parable of the Talents’ meaning in his Biblical Views column “Reading the Bible Through Ancient Eyes” in BAR. Read more…
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Who Was Jesus’ Biological Father?
• 10/24/2017
Was Joseph Jesus’ biological father? If not, who was Jesus’ biological father? Andrew Lincoln examines what early Christians thought about conception and explains how views about this subject have changed Read more…
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Were Mary and Joseph Married or Engaged at Jesus’ Birth?
• 10/17/2017
Were Mary and Joseph married or engaged when they traveled to Bethlehem? Biblical scholar Mark Wilson examines what the gospels say in this Bible History Daily guest post. Read more…
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How the Serpent Became Satan
• 10/13/2017
The serpent in the Garden of Eden is portrayed as just that: a serpent. The story in Genesis 2–3 contains no hint that he embodies the devil, Satan or any Read more…
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Should We Take Creation Stories in Genesis Literally?
• 10/12/2017
Were the creation stories in Genesis meant to be taken literally? Maybe not, says Biblical scholar Shawna Dolansky in her Biblical Views column “The Multiple Truths of Myths” in the Read more…
