People & Cultures in the Bible

People & Cultures in the Bible

Pieter Bruegel Bethlehem Painting

Jul 10

How December 25 Became Christmas

By: Andrew McGowan

Theological scholar Andrew McGowan examines how December 25 came to be associated with the birthday of Jesus and became Christmas, a holiday celebrated by Christians around the world.

Jul 9

Exploring Jesus’s Hometown

By: James Riley Strange

In the early first century CE, Jesus’s hometown of Nazareth was a Galilean village like most others. With a population probably numbering only in the […]

The North Church (left) and its baptistery (right) at Shivta in Israel’s Negev Desert. Photo by Dror Maayan, courtesy of Emma Maayan-Fanar

Jul 7

Jesus in the Negev

By: BAS Staff

At Shivta, a large early Christian site in southern Israel, scenes painted on the ruined walls of two monumental church buildings have been recently identified […]

lilith

Jul 3

Lilith

By: Janet Howe Gaines

In most manifestations of her myth, Lilith represents chaos, seduction and ungodliness. Yet, in her every guise, Lilith has cast a spell on humankind. Who is Lilith in the Bible?

Jul 3

Who Was Phoebe?

By: Robin Gallaher Branch

Who was Phoebe? That’s a good question! This first-century C.E. leader of the early Christian community makes a cameo appearance in Romans 16:1–2. Paul graciously […]

Overview of Cerro del Villar from the northwest. Photodrone Tech SL / Cerro del Villar Archaeological Project

Jul 2

The Mediterranean’s Master Traders

By: Clinton J. Moyer

The Phoenicians were the maritime traders par excellence during the Iron Age. By the late ninth century BCE, they had ventured from their home cities […]

19th-century painting of Jezebel by John Liston Byam Shaw

Jun 26

Scandalous Women in the Bible

By: BAS Staff

Mary Magdalene, Jezebel, Rahab, Lilith. Today, each are popularly considered scandalous women in the Bible. Are these so-condemned salacious women misrepresented?

Raphael Isaiah

Jun 24

Who Was Isaiah?

By: BAS Staff

Isaiah is arguably the most popular of all the Hebrew prophets who wrote their oracles. In this BAS Library special collection, gain fascinating insights into Isaiah the prophet.

Magi illustration

Jun 24

Why Did the Magi Bring Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh?

By: BAS Staff

Were the gifts of the magi meant to save Jesus from the pain of arthritis? It’s possible, according to researchers at Cardiff University in Wales who have been studying the medical uses of frankincense.

Map shows the prophet Jeremiah’s journey to Egypt. Map by Biblical Archaeology Society

Jun 22

The Egyptian Journey of Jeremiah in the Bible

By: Marek Dospěl

When the biblical prophet Jeremiah decided to leave Judah and spend the rest of his life in Egyptian exile (Jeremiah 43), it must have been […]

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