Hebrew Bible

Bene Israel women perform kirtans at AJDC program in Mumbai, 2016 (Surabhi Sharma)

February 26, 2021, 6:06 am

Jewish Indian women elders spearhead revival of Purim musical tradition

COVID-19 restrictions prevent holiday synagogue performance in Mumbai, but members of India’s largest Jewish community Bene Israel are still passing on the Hindu-inspired art form

By Renee Ghert-Zand

Gerard van Honthorst, 'Adoration of the Shepherds,' 1622. 'The Bible With and Without Jesus' looks at verses that can be interpreted to predict Jesus's birth. (Public domain)

December 25, 2020, 4:32 pm

The Bible without Jesus? How two faiths can read the same text in dissonant ways

Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Brettler parse opposing interpretations Jews and Christians have of the same Bible, and make the argument that religion doesn’t have to be a zero-sum game

By Rich Tenorio

'Embarkation of the Pilgrims,' by Robert Walter Weir, circa 1857. (Public domain/ Brooklyn Museum online collection)

November 26, 2020, 1:39 am

Back in 1620, the Pilgrim leader behind the 1st Thanksgiving was Hebrew-obsessed

William Bradford’s ‘Of Plymouth Plantation’ features about 1,000 words in the biblical tongue. But although many early Protestants studied Hebrew, they were hardly philo-Semitic

By Rich Tenorio

Psalm 1 from the Zechariah Ben 'Anan Codex, rediscovered in 2017 by Israeli scholar Prof. Yoram Meital in a Cairo synagogue. (Yoram Meital)

February 24, 2020, 3:58 pm

Lost 1,000-year-old Hebrew Bible found on dusty Cairo synagogue shelf

While attempting to document Egyptian synagogues, an Israeli historian stumbles upon a massive, well-preserved 616-page codex that was written in 1028

By Amanda Borschel-Dan

Rep. Elaine Luria (R) followed by Rep. Abigail Spanberger (L) leave a House Democratic Caucus meeting with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi where she was persuaded to launch a formal impeachment inquiry against US President Donald Trump, at the Capitol in Washington,Sept. 24, 2019 (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

November 12, 2019, 4:03 am

Congresswoman clutches Hebrew Bible in video backing impeachment inquiry

Virginia Democrat Elaine Luria, one of eight moderates who had initially opposed Trump probe, uses holy book as prop in clip explaining her about-face

By JTA

A small 7th century BCE clay sealing reading 'Belonging to Adoniyahu, Royal Steward,' recently discovered in the City of David's sifting project, taken from earth excavated under Robinson's Arch. (Eliyahu Yanai/Courtesy City of David)

September 9, 2019, 3:01 pm

Tiny First Temple seal impression found with name of Bible-era royal steward

Inscribed with ‘Belonging to Adoniyahu, Royal Steward,’ a clay sealing from the 7th century BCE uncovered from earth excavated at the foundations of the Western Wall

By Amanda Borschel-Dan

Inscribed late 9th or early 8th century BCE altar that was discovered in a Moabite sanctuary at the Khirbat Ataruz site in central Jordan in 2010. (Courtesy of Adam Bean)

August 28, 2019, 7:24 pm

Newly deciphered Moabite inscription may be first use of written word ‘Hebrews’

Cylindrical altar from 3,000 years ago found in Jordan also offers first evidence of early Moabite script — and could repaint picture of geopolitics in the ancient Levantine world

By Amanda Borschel-Dan

Farmer Guy Erlich shows ampules of scented oils extracted from plants and trees at a farm on a small hill near the settlement of Almog in the West Bank, on May 28, 2019 (MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP)

August 23, 2019, 12:15 pm

Israeli farmer remixes what he says are Cleopatra’s ancient scents near Dead Sea

Captivated by biblical agriculture, Guy Erlich claims to have recreated perfumes used by ancient ruler, oils that anointed biblical Jewish kings

By Michael Blum

Stunning 8th century BCE staircase and paved entrance hall at Tel Hazor. (The Selz Foundation Hazor Excavations in Memory of Yigael Yadin)

July 24, 2019, 5:17 am

Large 3,500-year-old staircase hints at conquered Canaanite kingdom’s grandeur

The largest biblical-era site in Israel with an estimated population of 20,000, Hazor was razed by the Israelites, according to the Book of Joshua

By Amanda Borschel-Dan

Volunteers excavate pottery from Khirbet a-Ra'i, which archaeologists have identified as biblical Ziklag. (Excavation expedition to Khirbet a-Ra‘i)

July 8, 2019, 10:16 am

Archaeologists say they found town where future King David took refuge from Saul

For decades scholars sought the elusive site of Ziklag, where the Bible says David was given shelter by Philistine King Achish

By Amanda Borschel-Dan

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, speaks to International Bible Quiz for Youth winner Yonatan Weisman of Jerusalem, left, on Israel's Independence Day, May 9, 2019. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)

May 9, 2019, 6:38 pm

At Independence Day contest, PM vows to put a Bible on the moon

Citing the holy book as the source of Israel’s ‘initiative, determination and daring,’ Netanyahu promises to press ahead with a second lunar mission

By TOI staff

April 24, 2019, 5:24 am

In visual midrash, Israeli artist puts biblical women in the center of the frame

Photographer Dikla Laor uses her Golan Heights home as backdrop to reimagine heroines from the Bible — some of whom are not even named

By Renee Ghert-Zand

Nikki Fried, right, is sworn in as Florida's commissioner of agriculture on January 8, 2019. Fried's left hand is placed on the first Hebrew Bible published in America. (Photo by Colin Hackley/via RNS)

January 9, 2019, 9:12 pm

Florida agriculture commissioner sworn in on nation’s first Hebrew Bible

Nikki Fried, the lone Democrat to win statewide office in the Sunshine State, received the 1814 tome from the collection at her alma mater, the University of Florida

By Yonat Shimron

Illustrative: A display of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden at the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky. (Flickr/ David Berkowitz)

December 31, 2018, 4:29 am

Can creationism and science coexist? This scholar helps evangelicals to think so

Lester L. Grabbe’s new book, ‘Faith and Fossils,’ says evolution doesn’t contradict the Genesis story — but unlike similar arguments, comes from a theologian, not a scientist

By Rich Tenorio

Robert Alter seen in his home office. (David A.M. Wilensky/via JTA)

November 30, 2018, 6:25 am

Scholar’s coveted Bible translation, 22 years in the making, set to hit shelves

Prizing the original literary style above all else, Robert Alter becomes the first scholar to single-handedly produce a comprehensive English language text

By Rich Tenorio