judah and tamar

judah and tamar Latest

The fateful encounter between Judah and his daughter-in-law Tamar is depicted in this 17th-century painting by Dutch artist Gerbrand van den Eeckhout

Feb 25 Blog

Sacred Prostitution in the Story of Judah and Tamar

While some scholars suggest that temple prostitution was practiced in ancient Israel, Edward Lipiński argues that neither the Bible nor archaeology provides any clear evidence that Israelite religion incorporated the sexual rites of Canaanite goddesses.

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?

Jul 30 Blog

The Story of Ruth

By: Adele Berlin

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.

Apr 13 Blog

Fruit in the Bible

By: David Moster

Seeds and fruit remains are exciting discoveries for archaeologists, and they provide radiocarbon data to help date buried strata. Fruit also plays an important role in the Biblical narrative.

Nov 11 Blog

Geshurite Fort Excavated

By: Jonathan Laden

A complex was excavated on a hill above the El-Al Canyon in Hispin on the Golan Heights. The Iron Age Fort was dated to the […]

Sep 9 Blog

The Blurred Lines of Biblical Timnah

By: Jennifer Drummond

Who were the people of biblical Timnah—Philistines? Israelites? Judahites? Canaanites? In the article “Blurred Lines: The Enigma of Iron Age Timnah,” from the July/August/September/October 2019 […]

Jul 26 Blog

Digital Dead Sea Scrolls Reveal New Biblical Insights

By: David Malamud

Nearly five years of scans and reinterpretation of newly legible parts of the Dead Sea Scrolls have revealed intriguing insights into 2,000-year-old Biblical texts.

Must-Read Free eBooks

The Dead Sea Scrolls: Past, Present, and Future

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Ancient Israel in Egypt and the Exodus

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