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Mar 7 Blog

The Creation of Woman in the Bible

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?

An excavated site showing several large clay storage jars (pithoi) in situ. Photo: ASOR, Punic Project/James Whitred

Feb 22 Blog

At Carthage, Child Sacrifice?

By: Robin Ngo

Was child sacrifice really practiced at ancient Carthage? In BAR, Patricia Smith discusses the research she and her team conducted on the cremated remains from the Carthage Tophet.

Moses, pictured here in a painting by 17th-century Baroque artist Guido Reni. Alinari/Art Resource, NY.

Feb 14 Blog

Love Your Neighbor: Only Israelites or Everyone?

By: Richard Elliott Friedman

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?

Cropped illustration shows Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Photo: From Charles Foster, The Story of the Bible (1897)

Feb 1 Blog

Who Was the Wife of Cain?

By: BAS Staff

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 Eden, they did not matter to him or factor into his account. He was concerned with Adam and Eve and their progeny—not those outside of this group.

Nov 27 Blog

The Adam and Eve Story: Eve Came From Where?

By: BAS Staff

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 wrong: Eve came from a different part of Adam’s body—his baculum.

Mosaic of the Journey to Bethlehem from the Chora Church in Istanbul.

Nov 6 Blog

Were Mary and Joseph Married or Engaged at Jesus’ Birth?

By: Mark Wilson

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.

Photo of Torah Scroll. Photo: “Open Torah and Pointer” by Lawrie Cate is licensed under CC-by-SA-2.0

Oct 9 Blog

What Does the Bible Say About Tattoos?

By: Megan Sauter

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?

The Garden of Eden with the Fall of Man (c. 1617) by Flemish painters Peter Paul Rubens and Jan Brueghel the Elder

Aug 14 Blog

Should We Take Creation Stories in Genesis Literally?

By: Robin Ngo

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 January/February 2016 issue of BAR.

Jun 21 Blog

Did the Ancient Israelites Think Children Were People?

By: T. M. Lemos

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 for sins the children themselves had not committed? Did the Israelites even think children were persons with any type of rights?

Jun 19 Blog

What Does the Bible Say About Infertility?

By: Biblical Archaeology Society Staff

Joel S. Baden and Candida R. Moss analyze the Biblical portrayal of infertility in the Biblical Views column “Reevaluating Biblical Infertility.”

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Ancient Israel in Egypt and the Exodus

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