A Virtual File Cabinet for Our Studies of Christian Origins & Hebraic Faith
The post primarily contains information from an extensive article at BAS by Karel van der Toorn. The article was saved as a PDF file in the BAS directory in DropBox as downloaded from Egyptian Papyrus Sheds New Light on Jewish History Note the links at the bottom of the post to very good articles at BAS […]
Continue ReadingFrom Claude.ai Prompt – Do any critical bible scholars think that David being sent back in 1 Samuel 29:1-11 is not historical, so that David is not shown fighting his own people? Cite sources and scholars’ names. Response – Some critical biblical scholars interpret the narrative in 1 Samuel 29:1-11, where David is sent back […]
Continue ReadingHovav the Midianite: Why Was the End of the Story Cut? The Midianite Origin of YHWH and Aniconism The extract below is from the great article by Prof. Israel Knohl at TheTorah.com. YHWH from the South A number of biblical traditions describe YHWH’s emergence from the south, either the southern Transjordan, the Sinai wilderness, or both. […]
Continue ReadingFrom the BAS Library’s page The Sources of Genesis 1–11 According to the Documentary Hypothesis Sidebar to: The Documentary Hypothesis in Trouble Blenkinsopp, Joseph. “The Documentary Hypothesis in Trouble,” Bible Review 1.4 (1985): 22–26, 28–30, 32. Modern source critics usually divide the primeval history in Genesis 1–11—from the Creation through the Tower of Babel— into two major strands or […]
Continue ReadingFrom ChatGPT 9/12/2025. In the Hebrew Bible the word Leviathan (לִוְיָתָן, liwyātān) appears as a name for a massive, chaotic sea creature—sometimes poetic, sometimes mythic. Critical scholars generally see it as Israel’s version of the Near Eastern chaos-monster motif rather than a literal zoological animal. Note in two verses, YHWH is playing with Leviathan like […]
Continue ReadingFrom ChatGPT on 9/11/2025. This post contains four Prompts/Responses with the prompts listed below. Scroll down to read the responses. 1st Prompt – Are there any critical bible scholars who discuss if evil or satan actually exists, or is what we call evil the absence of God? 2nd Prompt – Why do critical bible scholars […]
Continue ReadingHere’s a bullet-point outline prepared by ChatGPT based on the archaeological portrait from Robert D. Miller’s Archaeological Views: Israelite Life Before the Kings published in BAR, 2013. Israelite Life Before the Kings (1200–1000 B.C.E.) 1. Villages & Settlement 2. Homes & Families 3. Agriculture & Economy 4. Social Life & Leadership 5. Religion & Worship […]
Continue ReadingFollow the great scholars’ reasoning in all these BAS articles from their email on 8/17/2025.
Continue ReadingFrom BAS – This collection of articles paints a fascinating picture of Israel’s ancient neighbors, layering on fresh understanding of each ancient kingdom with archaeological evidence of what life was like for the biblical Iron Age societies of Ammon, Edom, and Moab. Read all these eye-opening articles and more from the pages of Biblical Archaeology Review and Bible […]
Continue ReadingFrom ChatGPT on 7/1/2025 The text below is a summary prepared by ChatGPT of the a transcript of Dr. Joel Baden’s Lecture 6 from The Rise and Fall of Biblical Israel, focusing on Solomon’s reign. Below is a comprehensive summary, highlighting the main themes, events, and scholarly interpretations presented in the lecture: Overview: This lecture […]
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