According to Adele Berlin, the Book of Ruth illuminates the main theme of the Hebrew Bible: the continuity of God’s people in their land. Read more…
Hebrew Bible
A term used by Biblical scholars, “Hebrew Bible” refers to the Jewish scriptures, or the Tanakh. The Books of the Hebrew Bible roughly correspond to the Protestant Old Testament. The Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Old Testaments contain additional books not found in the Hebrew Bible. The Books of the Hebrew Bible (in English) are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.
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The Story of Ruth
• 07/31/2018
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How Was the Bible Written During and After the Exile?
• 07/27/2018
How was the Bible written during and after the Babylonian Exile? Did the Biblical authors continue to use the Hebrew language even though they were living in lands where Hebrew Read more…
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High Places, Altars and the Bamah
• 07/15/2018
The open-air altar shrine, called a bamah (plural bamot), is known through several books of the Biblical canon. Often referred to as “high places” in translations of the Bible, bamot Read more…
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The Doorways of Solomon’s Temple
• 06/26/2018
In the Bible, the inner shrine of Solomon’s Temple is described as having five mezuzot. What are they? The question has puzzled Biblical scholars for centuries. Does a recently discovered Read more…
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The Animals Went in Two by Two, According to Babylonian Ark Tablet
• 06/18/2018
A recently translated Old Babylonian flood tablet describes how to build a circular ark.
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Bible Animals: From Hyenas to Hippos
• 06/14/2018
Lions and crocodiles and monkeys, oh my! There are about a hundred different types of animal species mentioned in the Bible. In this post, Rabbi Dr. Natan Slifkin discusses the Read more…
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Asherah and the Asherim: Goddess or Cult Symbol?
• 06/03/2018
Who is Asherah? What is asherah? The reference may be to a particular goddess, a class of goddess or a cult symbol used to represent the goddess. It is sometimes Read more…
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Who Are the Nephilim?
• 05/31/2018
Who are the Nephilim? From where do the “heroes of old, the men of renown” come? Read more…
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Did Pharaoh Sheshonq Attack Jerusalem?
• 05/29/2018
Israeli scholar Yigal Levin’s article “Did Pharaoh Sheshonq Attack Jerusalem” in the July/August 2012 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review examines the historical veracity of both the Egyptian Pharaoh’s account and Read more…
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Rock Giants in Noah
• 05/28/2018
Can the Book of Enoch shed light on Noah the movie? Ronald S. Hendel examines the flood story. Read more…
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Where Noah Landed?
• 05/27/2018
Still another group is looking for Mt. Ararat, where the Bible says Noah landed after the flood. This group is looking to confirm the tradition that nearby Mt. Cudi (Judi Read more…
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What Happened to Cain in the Bible?
• 05/23/2018
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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Left-Handed People in the Bible
• 05/15/2018
Were the warriors from the tribe of Benjamin left-handed by nature or nurture? Read more…
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Jacob in the Bible
• 05/08/2018
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…
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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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Book of Leviticus Verses Recovered from Burnt Hebrew Bible Scroll
• 04/09/2018
A burnt ancient scroll found 45 years ago has finally been deciphered thanks to advanced digital technology. The scroll was revealed to contain verses from the Book of Leviticus. Read more…
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What Does the Bible Say About Tattoos?
• 04/07/2018
Although Leviticus 19:28 clearly prohibits tattoos, it does not give an explicit reason why. This begs the question: Why does the Bible prohibit tattoos? Read more…
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Who Was Moses? Was He More than an Exodus Hero?
• 03/13/2018
Who was Moses? Was he more than an Exodus hero? Discover the Biblical Moses with Peter Machinist in his article “The Man Moses.” Read more…
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Exodus in the Bible and the Egyptian Plagues
• 03/11/2018
The Book of Exodus describes ten Egyptian plagues that bring suffering to the land of pharaoh. Are these Biblical plagues plausible on any level? Read more…
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Who Was the Wife of Cain?
• 01/07/2018
Who did Cain marry? Where did she come from? Mary Joan Winn Leith suggests that while the Israelite storyteller knew that other men and women in Genesis existed outside of 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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Jonah and the Whale
• 09/23/2017
The Book of Jonah is read in the synagogue on the afternoon of Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, the sacred Day of Atonement. Why, of all Read more…
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Did I Find King David’s Palace?
• 05/12/2017
Digging just south of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, Eilat Mazar uncovered a monumental building from the tenth century B.C.—the right time and the right place for David’s royal residence. Read more…
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When Was the Hebrew Bible Written?
• 05/10/2017
When was the Hebrew Bible written? Ostraca with Hebrew inscriptions excavated from the Iron Age fortress at Arad in Israel may provide clues, say researchers from Tel Aviv University. Read more…
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The Search for Noah’s Flood
• 03/27/2017
If we wanted to find the flood that gave rise to the legend of Noah’s Flood, we should look for a big flood in northern Mesopotamia, says scholar Ronald S. Read more…
