2 Kings 18.4 reads: He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: For it was called Nehushtan.[1]The Nehushtan נְחֻשְׁתָּן was the serpent pole that Moses constructed in the wilderness in the episode with the fiery flying serpentsContinue Reading

Jephthah’s Daughter and her sacrifice Victor Ludlow approaches the text knowing Hebrew, thus giving readers at least a couple of options in examining this text. He was a Danforth Fellow at Harvard and Brandeis University where he received his Ph.D. in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies. From Victor Ludlow’s commentaryContinue Reading

Micah 3.6 Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them. What is this verse talking about? Context: ThisContinue Reading

This page is where we will have access to the audio podcasts and material for the courses held during the online period of this course Exodus 15-17 The Song of the Sea & Amalek – live class recording 11.12.20 Exodus 20-24 audio/podcast Exodus 20-24 live class recording 11.17.20 Exodus 20-28Continue Reading

Seeing another layer to these puns Marvin Sweeney shows readers in this post that the names of the individuals in Genesis 25-35 reflect both geographical and cultural realities that existed and were understood anciently by the hearers of these stories. Later when these stories were textualized, many of these namesContinue Reading

In Genesis 31 we read that Rachel steals her father’s household gods. What is going on here? These objects are teraphim תְּרָפִים or images of gods that Laban used in some capacity. What were these objects? From the Jewish Encycopedia we read the following: Plural word of unknown derivation usedContinue Reading

Isaiah’s last two chapters make up a set of prophecies that are complementary to the first two chapters of Isaiah, making these four chapters very much like bookends to his works. Isaiah 65 and 66 reinforce each other as they speak of the forthcoming of the Lord’s judgment (65.1-16 andContinue Reading

I always like to go through the narrative of David’s call to kingship as found in 1 Samuel. Right off the bat, we see three different narratives: He is chosen and anointed king by Samuel (1 Samuel 16.1-13). David is chosen due to his musical skill in healing King Saul’sContinue Reading