>Audio
The story of Eliyahu ha-navi, Elijah challenging the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18, is iconic. A showdown between 1 prophet of Hashem and 450 prophets of a storm god on the slopes of the Carmel Mountain range. The contest is simple: each of them set up a sacrifice,
Articles
Most people know that Apostle Paul was a pious Jew. Many New Testament readers would note that he was a Pharisee trained with the rabbis at the feet of Gamaliel (Acts 22:3). And at the same time, an overwhelming majority of Christians also see Apostle Paul as a radical
>Audio
"The Books of Baruch: Four Oracles in New Translation" - this edition presents you with a new, easy-to-read, and culturally nuanced English translation of four ancient oracles: 1 - The Book of Baruch, 2 - The Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch, 3 - The Slavonic Apocalypse of Baruch, and
>Seminars
This series of lectures on Paul’s Letter to the Romans raises multiple questions that some may consider controversial, as the apostle's words are not explained in a traditional manner. The lectures are built on a presupposition of Paul not as a follower of a new religion (Christianity)
>Audio
In Deuteronomy Moses recounts the events that have already happened. He gives a summary of events that have transpired during many years in the wilderness. At the very beginning of his speech, he admonishes the Israelites to take possession of the land promised to them. And the way he spoke
Articles
The Letter to the Romans emerges from a complicated social world shaped by Roman imperial politics, shifting relationships between Jews and Gentiles, and the trauma of Jewish diaspora being expelled and later readmitted to Rome. Behind Paul’s letter, which teaches deep spiritual principles that stimulate abundant theological reflection, lies
Articles
If you are a GMAIL user, keep in mind that updates and emails from PSHIR.COM will likely end up in the "Promotions" tab and sometimes even in spam. Unfortunately, the Google server sees them as institutional emails sent to multiple users and tags them as "marketing,
The themes of ruin and restoration are at the core of the Jewish apocalyptic genre. Even the most bitter laments are accompanied by hope when one is tethered to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. That is precisely what you will find in The Books of Baruch. This edition
Over the years of teaching, I have often referred my students to the books of Enoch. But most of the time, I did so with some reservations. I knew that the broadly distributed copies they would likely come across would be littered with archaic and hard-to-digest language. Finally, between 2023
If you like perusing Pshir.com, then what are the odds you might enjoy my books? I invite you to consider the titles I highlight below in print, in digital format, or as audiobooks. Paid Subscribers can flip through full digital versions of all these titles inside the READ section.
Do you like to listen to your books? I am excited to announce that thanks to my partnership with Amazon and Audible, some of my new translations are now available as audiobooks! The Apocalypse of Abraham HERE and The Apocalypse of Moses HERE. I personally love holding paper books in
Subscribe to Weekly Jewish and Biblical Studies curated by Pinchas Shir
This series of lectures addresses key passages and themes in Paul’s Letter to the Romans, a pivotal book for Christian theological understanding. They were delivered live to a mixed audience at a Messianic Synagogue. As such, they express a unique perspective, a presupposition of Paul as a traditional Jew
When you sign up at PSHIR.COM, your free account gives you access to piles of resources in Jewish and Biblical studies, select audio and video segments, and many extended topic previews. At PSHIR.COM, you don't have to keep up with passwords! Access to your personal account
I wanted to share with you a video I made recently for my YouTube channel. I created several similar videos where I like to present samples of ancient Jewish compositions people might have never read that I have translated. I decided to put them up on YouTube because videos allow
In Numbers, we encounter a story of a report brought back to the Israelite community. Ten investigators of the Land of Promise were pessimistic about conquering Canaan. The land was prosperous and fertile, but the enemy was too mighty to defeat. Of ten investigators, only two believed that God would
Curiosity drives many of us. Knowledge is often sought after because it opens new opportunities and allows us to comprehend the world around us in a deeper and more nuanced sense. But not all doors we encounter are meant to be walked through. In the Garden of Eden, the offer
Jesus, or as he was known to his family and friends, Yeshua, was a teacher of Torah's wisdom, a first-century rabbi. And he was surrounded by other rabbis with similar and sometimes alternative ideas that the gospels document well. This video is a lecture by Dr. Brad Young,
Anyone familiar with stories about Jesus, even those who have never read the gospels for themselves, has heard of Pontius Pilate, who ordered the crucifixion. Some see him as a villain, others as a calculating administrator of Roman affairs caught between his duties to law and order and religious tensions
The themes of ruin and restoration are at the core of the Jewish apocalyptic genre. Even the most bitter laments are accompanied by hope when one is tethered to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. That is precisely what you will find in The Books of Baruch. This edition
Does the Gospel of John genuinely express anti-Judaic ideas? In his first-century CE narrative, "the Jews" (hoi Iudaioi; οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι) do frequently oppose Jesus. Reading the story as an outsider, one may even feel that Jesus himself is not a Jew, and neither are his disciples. Yet we
It is wonderful when people are optimistic, and they wish to discover the world, realizing how little they have seen. The world we live in is vast and beautiful, full of wonder. As a result, some set their sight on distant ambitions, on exotic destinations, on exciting places that others
Some people read the Bible as a codex of religious law, others as ancient moralistic philosophy, and many see it as a book of fairy-tale-like legends and stories. We live in exciting days when, thanks to science, many legends start to look very real. Modern technology allows us to see
This academic volume that reexamines one of the most influential yet often misunderstood groups in Jewish and Christian history - The Pharisees. Long portrayed in simplistic or negative terms, especially through the lens of the New Testament, here the Pharisees are portrayed in a fuller historical, social, and religious context.