A Virtual File Cabinet for Our Studies of Christian Origins & Hebraic Faith
From 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 ReadingBelow is from the slides presented by Dr. Joel Baden in Lecture 3 of his course at BSA titled The Hebrew Bible Exploring the Literature of Ancient Israel. Slide 8Wisdom of Amenemope (13th c. BCE)Do not move the markers on the borders of fields…norencroach on the boundaries of a widow. Proverbs 23:10 Do not remove […]
Continue ReadingDifficulties in the Noah Story – A great article at TheTorah.com is A Textual Study of Noah’s Flood. The following lists were extracted from there. Below those paragraphs are the verses viewed as J and those viewed as P side-by-side, providing internally consistent texts to show how they form a continuous story. The Noah account […]
Continue ReadingJews and Arabs Descended from Canaanites DNA analysis, from bodies found at several sites, explains more than half of their ancestryAt BAR by Jonathan Laden, May 24, 2025 After examining the DNA of 93 bodies recovered from archaeological sites around the southern Levant, the land of Canaan in the Bible, researchers have concluded that modern […]
Continue ReadingFrom Bart Ehrman’s post here. One of the most mysterious and even bizarre stories in Genesis happens right at the beginning of the flood narrative, where we are told that the “sons of God” looked down among the human “daughters,” saw that they were beautiful, and came down and had sex with them leading, to […]
Continue ReadingFrom ChatGPT 6/10/2025. Here is a table comparing the events of each day in the Genesis 1 creation story (1:1–2:3) with the creation narrative in Genesis 2 (2:4–25). These two accounts differ significantly in structure, emphasis, and theological purpose. Day Genesis 1 Creation Story (Priestly Source, Gen 1:1–2:3) Genesis 2 Creation Story (Yahwist Source, Gen […]
Continue ReadingThere were people around that could kill Cain for killing Abel. How could that be? And why did Jehovah protect a murderer? Genesis 4:13-16 — Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear! Today you have driven me away from the soil, and I shall be hidden from your face; I shall […]
Continue ReadingIsaiah 10:21–23 Only a remnant shall return,Only a remnant of Jacob,To mighty El.Even if your people, O Israel,Should be as the sands of the sea,Only a remnant of it shall return.Destruction is decreed;Retribution comes like a flood!For my lord Yahweh of Hosts is carrying outA decree of destruction upon all the land. Most closely aligns […]
Continue ReadingWhen God Sleeps By Bernard F. Batto The God of the Bible both rests and sleeps. In this, he resembles other ancient Near Eastern deities. The Hebrew theologians shared a mythic vocabulary with neighboring cultures, but the Hebrew theologians used this vocabulary to elevate their theology to spiritual heights previously unknown. Divine rest following creation is also […]
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