exodus 20

exodus 20 Latest

Painting 'He turned their waters into blood,' by the 19th-century American folk painter Erastus Salisbury Field (1805–1900). Photo: National Gallery of Art, Washington/Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch

Apr 1 Blog

Exodus in the Bible and the Egyptian Plagues

The Book of Exodus describes ten Egyptian plagues that bring suffering to the land of pharaoh. Are these Biblical plagues plausible on any level?

Dec 19 Blog

Understanding Israel’s 10 Commandments

By: Shawna Dolansky

Are the 10 Commandments really a moral code, or did the ancients understand them rather as the constitutional basis of a political theocracy?

Nov 5 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?

Sep 8 Blog

How Were Biblical Psalms Originally Performed?

By: Marek Dospěl

Biblical psalms have throughout millennia been an important part of traditional Jewish and Christian worship. How were Biblical psalms originally performed?

Jul 4 Blog

Jewish Worship, Pagan Symbols

By: Walter Zanger

What are zodiac mosaics doing in ancient synagogues in Israel?

May 21 Blog

Biblical Sidon—Jezebel’s Hometown

By: Biblical Archaeology Society Staff

The city of Sidon on the coast of modern Lebanon is mentioned 38 times in the Hebrew Bible. Recent excavations have exposed part of the ancient Canaanite—and later Phoenician—city, including a massive temple and depictions of deities worshiped at Sidon.

Mar 2 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?

Mar 29 Blog

Which Altar Was the Right One in Ancient Israelite Religion?

By: Biblical Archaeology Society Staff

What do Iron Age altars tell us about Biblical sacrifices and worship in ancient Israelite religion?

Feb 8 Blog

Sold! Earliest Surviving 10 Commandments Stone

By: Megan Sauter

A 10 Commandments stone tablet—believed by some to be the oldest stone copy of the 10 Commandments—was sold at an auction in November 2016 for $850,000.

Sep 21 Blog

First Person: Should Israel Return the Tablets of the Law to Egypt?

By: Hershel Shanks

In 1969, barely two years after the 1967 Six-Day War, a team of Israeli archaeologists made an exploratory excavation at the base of one of the numerous sites in the Sinai Peninsula proposed as Biblical Mt. Sinai. It was not long before a member of the team exposed a piece of rock with a single Hebrew letter on it. This naturally led to more intensive excavation in this area, as a result of which additional, larger pieces of inscribed stones were recovered. They were taken to Israel for further study.

Must-Read Free eBooks

The Dead Sea Scrolls: Past, Present, and Future

Biblical Peoples—The World of Ancient Israel

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Ancient Israel in Egypt and the Exodus

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