The book of Judges in the Bible narrates a series of intertribal and international wars waged by Israel as it settled the recently conquered land of Canaan. The central theme of the book of Judges is the rescue of the Israelite confederation at times of national crisis by the inspired intervention of a charismatic tribal … Read more
From time to time I have had friends, missionaries, and other members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ask me what I make of any supposed connection between Nephi, the opening author of the Book of Mormon, and the Nephilim of Genesis. The Nephilim, you will recall, are mentioned in Genesis 6 as the … Read more
The Grapes of Canaan by James Tissot (c. 1896-1902) One thing I have become attuned to looking for in scriptural narratives is irony. Due to the fact that I wrote a capstone paper on the use of irony in the work of fin-de-siècle Austrian author Arthur Schnitzler, my reading of the scriptures often looks to uncover … Read more
The Creation of Eve (c. 1509–1510) by Michelangelo. Concerning the creation of חוה (or, more properly, the אשׁה) from the צלע of אדם, Genesis 2:21 records: וַיַּפֵּל֩ יְהוָ֨ה אֱלֹהִ֧ים׀ תַּרְדֵּמָ֛ה עַל־הָאָדָ֖ם וַיִּישָׁ֑ן וַיִּקַּ֗ח אַחַת֙ מִצַּלְעֹתָ֔יו וַיִּסְגֹּ֥ר בָּשָׂ֖ר תַּחְתֶּֽנָּה Yahweh Elohim caused a deep slumber to fall upon the man, and he slept. Then he took one of his ribs and closed it up with flesh. What’s interesting is … Read more
Over at his blog Scriptural Mormonism, Robert Boylan has a brief post exploring Genesis 20:13. The verse in question reads: וַיְהִ֞י כַּאֲשֶׁ֧ר הִתְע֣וּ אֹתִ֗י אֱלֹהִים֮ מִבֵּ֣ית אָבִי֒ וָאֹמַ֣ר לָ֔הּ זֶ֣ה חַסְדֵּ֔ךְ אֲשֶׁ֥ר תַּעֲשִׂ֖י עִמָּדִ֑י אֶ֤ל כָּל־הַמָּקֹום֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר נָבֹ֣וא שָׁ֔מָּה אִמְרִי־לִ֖י אָחִ֥י הֽוּא׃ And when the gods caused me to wander from my father’s house, I … Read more
The Qumran text 1QS, otherwise known as the Rule of the Community (Serekh ha-Yaḥad), has an interesting depiction of two “spirits,” the spirits of light and darkness (רוחות אור וחושׁכ), that, the text explains, were created by God, “making them the cornerstone of every deed” (1QS III, 25). Of these two spirits, the text explains, … Read more
Professor Joshua Berman Joshua Berman, a professor of Bible at Bar-Ilan University and at Shalem College in Israel, and a research fellow at the Herzl Institute, has authored an excellent article in the Jewish online magazine Mosaic on the question of the historicity of the exodus account in the Book of Exodus. I had the … Read more
The following notes come from Paul Sanders in his volume The Provenance of Deuteronomy 32 (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1996). For the record, here is Deuteronomy 32:7–9, 43 (NRSV): 7 Remember the days of old, consider the years long past; ask your father, and he will inform you; your elders, and they will tell … Read more
In my post here I stated that I essentially agreed with a comment made by David Bokovoy on the nature of biblical historiography. Biblical authors were not historians, at least not in the modern sense of the term. They were storytellers. Their accounts were certainly sacred, but they were also entertaining, and sometimes even political … Read more
El sueño de Jacob by José de Ribera (1638). Genesis 28 narrates Jacob’s dream at Bethel, wherein he saw Yahweh standing at the top of a stairway leading into heaven. The answer, according to the Hebrew Bible, is pretty clear. (All translations from the Hebrew are my own.) וַֽיִּשְׁמְע֞וּ אֶת־קֹ֨ול יְהוָ֧ה אֱלֹהִ֛ים מִתְהַלֵּ֥ךְ בַּגָּ֖ן לְר֣וּחַ הַיֹּ֑ום וַיִּתְחַבֵּ֨א הָֽאָדָ֜ם וְאִשְׁתֹּ֗ו מִפְּנֵי֙ יְהוָ֣האֱלֹהִ֔ים בְּתֹ֖וךְ עֵ֥ץ הַגָּֽן׃ And they heard the voice of … Read more
One of the perks of being an Ancient Near Eastern Studies major is that when you experience unrequited love you can turn to the Hebrew Bible for some kind of solace. דִּבְרֵי֙ קֹהֶ֣לֶת בֶּן־דָּוִ֔ד מֶ֖לֶךְ בִּירוּשָׁלִָֽם הֲבֵ֤ל הֲבָלִים֙ אָמַ֣ר קֹהֶ֔לֶת הֲבֵ֥ל הֲבָלִ֖ים הַכֹּ֥ל הָֽבֶל כָּל־הַדְּבָרִ֣ים יְגֵעִ֔ים לֹא־יוּכַ֥ל אִ֖ישׁ לְדַבֵּ֑ר לֹא־תִשְׂבַּ֥ע עַ֨יִן֙ לִרְאֹ֔ות וְלֹא־תִמָּלֵ֥א אֹ֖זֶן מִשְּׁמֹֽעַ … Read more
A depiction of the prophet Jeremiah by Michelangelo on the Sistine Chapel ceiling. The prophet Jeremiah did not have an easy job. Besides being called to preach an unpopular message to a stubborn and wicked people, he was also confronted by plots to end his life, stonewalling and obfuscating Judahite magistrates, and false prophets who … Read more
Abraham’s Departure (1849) by József Molnár. James L. Kugel has some interesting comments on the account of Abraham’s call and journey as recorded in the Book of Genesis. In his volume How to Read the Bible, Kugel explores how ancient and modern interpreters of the Abraham narrative(s) in Genesis portray the patriarch’s relationship with God. … Read more