You may have heard about the Jerusalem council because the book of Acts describes this pivotal gathering. In Part 3 of our discussion about the ecclesia, the early Jewish church, Dr. Parker and Pinchas Shir discuss the significance of that
Large language models like ChatGPT, Grok, and Gemini are so popular these days. They can do so much and so fast, compared to old-fashioned search engine queries. Millions of people use them because they are packaged with core services
When the temple fell into disrepair, thirty-year-old King Yehoash told the priests to take the expenses necessary for the construction from the non-obligatory donations that they received from the people and use them for the repairs. Simple.
Why Josephus Matters? I can’t think of many individuals who have preserved more information about the world of the Bible than Yoseph ben Matityahu, better known today as Flavius Josephus. For those who study early Judaism, Biblical Studies, and
This book captures many ancient voices, a collection of literary excerpts from ancient Jewish books: Jubilees, Josephus, 4 Ezra, Qumran Scrolls, Talmud, Enoch, Baruch, Maccabees, Mishna, Judith, Apocalypse of Moses, Philo, Mishna, Ben Sira, and many others, fifty passages to
The Temple Mount in Jerusalem has not been excavated in modern times. It's a political and religious powder keg. But archaeological artifacts from the Temple Mount are being uncovered by Israeli archaeologists. How? An illegal renovation was conducted
In the chapters we read this week, the prophet Jeremiah foretells disaster, a time of judgment upon Israel. We intentionally read this passage whenever we recall the destruction of Jerusalem and reflect on this hour of judgment. Yet even in
The Bible often speaks about salvation as something far more tangible and visible than we may imagine. In the Hebrew Scriptures, God saves Israel with an outstretched arm, through his mighty hand, and by revealing his salvation before the eyes
Like many others, Psalm 130 is full of deep emotion. What drew me to this particular psalm recently is the language of heartfelt confession and repentance, words spoken from a place of what I felt as seclusion and separation. Hebrew
Did you know that the New Testament contains the most intriguing statement that suggests the existence of multiple heavens? The reference appears in Paul's second letter to the Corinthians. He writes, “I know a man in Christ who,
In our reading from Isaiah today, we encounter God’s message to a childless woman who symbolizes Israel. Israel lost much to war and exile. But now, she is promised to be blessed with many children, so she is told
A rare workshop for the production of chalkstone vessels, dated to the Roman period, is being excavated and studied at Reina in Lower Galilee. Excavations are unearthing a cave in which archaeologists have found thousands of chalkstone cores and other
