the dead sea scroll

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Apr 10 Blog

The Masoretic Text and the Dead Sea Scrolls

Do insights from the Dead Sea Scrolls add to the Masoretic text, and if so, should the original Hebrew Bible text be modified based this information? Scholars from both sides of the divide weigh in on this issue.

Late-15th-century painting of The Last Supper by the Spanish artist known as the Master of Perea.

Apr 8 Blog

Was Jesus’ Last Supper a Seder?

By: Jonathan Klawans

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

Roman Catacomb Painting at the Catacombs of Santa Priscilla

Apr 6 Blog

The Last Days of Jesus: A Final “Messianic” Meal

By: James Tabor

On Wednesday Jesus began to make plans for Passover. He sent two of his disciples into the city to prepare a large second-story guest room where he could gather secretly and safely with his inner group.

The Ravenna mosaic of Jesus. Photo: Sant’Apollinare Nuovo Ravenna, Italy/Bridgeman Images

Apr 3 Blog

Did Jesus Exist? Searching for Evidence Beyond the Bible

By: Lawrence Mykytiuk

Did Jesus of Nazareth, “the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5), really exist? What’s the evidence outside of the Bible? Classical and Jewish writings from the first several centuries C.E. give us a glimpse of the person who would become the central figure in Christianity mere decades after his crucifixion.

Mar 1 Blog

The Samaritan Schism

By: Lawrence H. Schiffman

In part two of his study on schisms in Jewish history, Lawrence H. Schiffman examines the Samaritan schism.

Feb 27 Blog

The Aleppo Codex

By: Jennifer Drummond

The world’s oldest Hebrew Bible, the Aleppo Codex, is missing pages—and not just a couple leaves, but four of the Five Books of Moses! What happened to them?

Feb 16 Blog

The Animals Went in Two by Two, According to Babylonian Ark Tablet

By: Noah Wiener

A recently translated Old Babylonian flood tablet describes how to build a circular ark.

The Great Isaiah Scroll. Photo: John C. Trevor, PhD. Digital Image: James E. Trevor

Jan 16 Blog

The “Original” Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls

By: Noah Wiener

More than 200 Biblical texts written in Hebrew were discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls. How do these ancient Biblical texts compare with the Masoretic Text and the Greek Septuagint in scholars’ search for the most authoritative text of the Hebrew Bible?

Jan 14 Blog

Can A Pre-Christian Version of the Book of Revelation Be Recovered?

By: James Tabor

James Tabor suggests that in the same way the basic apocalyptic texts of the Dead Sea Scrolls have as their historical reference points the parties and politics of the mid-1st century BCE, the Ur-text of revelation is most likely composed against the backdrop of local events in Judea in the 40s and 50s CE–and has little to do with Rome and its emperors.

Jan 1 Blog

Deciphered Dead Sea Scroll Reveals 364-Day Calendar

By: Robin Ngo

Researchers recently deciphered one of the last two remaining Dead Sea Scrolls. Written in code, the scroll describes a 364-day calendar used by the Qumran community that lived in the Judean Desert.

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