Bible Interpretation

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Apr 19 Blog

Jesus’ Last Supper Still Wasn’t a Passover Seder Meal

By: Jonathan Klawans

Many people still assume that Jesus’ Last Supper was a Seder, a ritual meal held in celebration of the Jewish holiday of Passover. In this exclusive Bible History Daily guest post, Boston University Professor of Religion Jonathan Klawans provides an update to his popular Bible Review article questioning this common assumption.

Apr 19 Blog

Was Jesus’ Last Supper a Seder?

By: Biblical Archaeology Society Staff

Many assume that Jesus' Last Supper was a Seder, the ritual Passover meal. Examine evidence from the synoptic Gospels with scholar Jonathan Klawans.

Apr 10 Blog

Jesus Before Pilate

By: Marek Dospěl

The Gospels offer a surprisingly excusatory depiction of Pontius Pilate, the Roman prefect of Judea directly responsible for Jesus’ death. While the contemporary sources do not mention Pilate’s fatal involvement with the itinerant rabbi from Galilee, they reveal a governor determined to promote Roman religion in Judea and to ruthlessly suppress any form of dissent.

Apr 8 Blog

Hierapolis and the Gateway to Hell

By: Noah Wiener

Italian archaeologists excavating the Phrygian city of Hierapolis in southwestern Turkey uncovered the remains of Pluto’s Gate, a site considered an entrance into the underworld in the Greco-Roman period.

Apr 7 Blog

The Church of Laodicea in the Bible and Archaeology

By: Megan Sauter

Laodicea was a wealthy city in western Turkey that flourished for centuries. Why does the author of the Book of Revelation call the church of Laodicea “lukewarm”—neither hot nor cold? Recent excavations at the site might provide the answer.

Apr 5 Blog

On What Day Did Jesus Rise?

By: Biblical Archaeology Society Staff

On what day did Jesus rise? After three days or on the third day? Ben Witherington III examines this question in BAR.

Apr 4 Blog

When Was the First Communion?

By: Megan Sauter

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. Steven Shisley examines how the Lord’s Supper transitioned from a full meal to a ritual in BAR.

Apr 3 Blog

How Was Jesus’ Tomb Sealed?

By: Megan Sauter

What kind of stone sealed the tomb of Jesus? Was it a round (disk-shaped) stone or a square (cork-shaped) stone? While both kinds of blocking stones are attested in Jerusalem tombs from the time of Jesus, square (cork-shaped) stones are much, much more common than round (disk-shaped) ones.

Mar 6 Blog

Anna in the Bible

By: Robin Gallaher Branch

Anna is one of the Bible’s most unusual women. Introduced at the end of the Birth Narrative (Luke 1:1-2:40), Anna concludes the sextet of named, pious Israelites surrounding the miraculous births of John and Jesus.

Mar 3 Blog

Where Is Golgotha, Where Jesus Was Crucified?

By: Biblical Archaeology Society Staff

Where is Golgotha, where Jesus was crucified, located in Jerusalem? Marcel Serr and Dieter Vieweger discuss past and current investigations into the site where Jesus was crucified.

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