A Virtual File Cabinet for Our Studies of Christian Origins & Hebraic Faith
This post contains this link to the article Recounting the Census: A Military Force of 5,500 (not 603,550) Men by Prof. Ben-Zion Katz M.D. for which a Claude.ai summary is below. The article poses various scholars arguments that the interpretation of 600,000 is wrong. Below that is a prompt/response from Perplexity computing how many generations […]
Continue ReadingFrom ChatGPT on 9/29/2026. Genesis 50 is especially important because it closes the Joseph story while simultaneously opening the problem that Exodus must solve. It also brings together several of the themes we have been following: inheritance, Canaan versus Egypt, Joseph’s special status, the emerging tribal identity, and the transition from the patriarchal family to […]
Continue ReadingChatGPT’s Prompt: How do critical bible scholars view Jacob’s deathbed reorganization of his son’s inheritances as prophetic for the tribal situations that evolve? Cite each son/grandson separately with context of how Jacob’s words relate the the future tribal situations. Cite all sources in line. Response: Critical biblical scholars generally approach Jacob’s final words in Genesis […]
Continue ReadingThis post is a continuation of Chat & Claude responses about the Jacob/Joseph story. Genesis 49 continues several of the major themes we identified in Genesis 48 Genesis 48 and 49 are really a single deathbed reorganization of Jacob/Israel’s family. Chapter 48 deals with Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh; chapter 49 then turns to […]
Continue ReadingFrom ChatGPT. This is part of my conversations with Chat about the Jacob-Joseph-Moses stories. Prompt – Given the history and events in our last three conversations related to Genesis 48, 49, 50 and Exodus, how do critical bible scholars see the time line related to Egypt’s domination of Canaan before, during and/or after the Jacob-Joseph-Moses […]
Continue ReadingFrom Claude.ai on 9/26/2026 Prompt: What do critical bible scholars see in Genesis Chapter 49 and the scenes therein as it relates to what is happening in the previous chapters and how do Jacob’s final words lead into Chapter 50 that flows into Exodus? Cite all sources inline. Response: Genesis 49 as Independent Poetry: Source […]
Continue Reading9/20/2026 – This long post contains a Claude.ai response to my prompt about Jacob, Joseph, his grandsons and the tribes that were given their names as presented in Genesis Chapter 48. Jumps are: Followup posts are: Prompt: In Genesis Chap. 48, the grandsons’s Manasseh and Ephraim, are mentioned and Ephraim recieved the blessing even though […]
Continue ReadingFor info on Teraphim, see https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/teraphim Explanatory Responses from Claude.ai Sonnett 4 on 5/28/2025 Prompt: Tell me the Hebrew Bible story and verses about after years working for Laban, Jacob decides to leave with his family and possessions. Unknown to Jacob, Rachel steals Laban’s teraphim. How do critical bible scholars view that story? The story […]
Continue ReadingFrom OpenAI. (2024). ChatGPT [Large language model]. https://chatgpt.com Prompt – Provide a timeline with context of any conflict between the Patriarchs and the Canaanites as well as later in the time of the Israelites. Cite all scriptures from the ASV and list all sources at the end of the response. Timeline and Context of Conflicts […]
Continue ReadingFrom ChatGPT on 11/10/2024. Prompt Series – Prepare an outline of the events in the Middle Bronze Age (c. 2000–1550 BCE) related toAbraham and the Patriarchs and their descendants noting the location of the events and any related NRSV bible scripture. Provide a list of sources at the end of the paper. Five Follow-up prompts […]
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