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Hebrew Bible

Matt Damon plays Odysseus in Christopher Nolan's film adaptation of Homer's 'The Odyssey.' (Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures via JTA)
July 17, 2026, 10:55 am
As Christopher Nolan revives ‘The Odyssey,’ a scholar links Homer and the Bible
What do a wily Greek king and the heroes and heroines of Genesis have in common? Academic and author Jacob Howland highlights more than a few points as the film premieres in the US on Friday
By Andrew Silow-Carroll
An aerial photograph of Room B in the 101 Building at Tel 'Eton in the southeastern part of Israel's Judean Shephelah. At the bottom left corner, the two segments of a standing stone (massebah). According to a 2026 study, the stone might have been repurposed following the religious reform by biblical King Hezekiah in the 8th century BCE. (Photo by Griffin Aerial Imaging; prepared by Dvir Rotem/Tel 'Eton Archaeological Expedition)
June 16, 2026, 9:32 am
Rare cultic stone from Israelite mansion may testify to King Hezekiah’s biblical reform
A massive 2,750-year-old artifact found at Tel ‘Eton might have been repurposed after a clampdown on worship outside the Temple in Jerusalem
By Rossella Tercatin
Akiva Shrier wins second place at the International Bible Quiz on April 19 in Jerusalem, Israel. (Screenshot via JTA)
April 27, 2026, 5:05 pm
US teens place high in Israel’s annual Bible Quiz
American participants who managed to arrive in the country during tenuous ceasefire with Iran drew extra praise from the judges this year for their fluency in Hebrew
By Grace Gilson
The site of Tel Hazor (Upper Galilee) in the area of the Lower City in July 2023. (Courtesy Ben Siegel/Ohio University and the Hazor Lower City Excavations)
April 16, 2026, 6:04 am
Shepherds without borders: In biblical Israel’s war zone, flocks traversed contested lands
Study of 3,000-year-old animal teeth from Tel Hazor in the Upper Galilee shows herds moved between warring Israel and Aram, shedding light on ancient boundaries’ permeability
By Rossella Tercatin
In her new book, Beth Berkowitz explores the way biblical laws invite a conversation about animals and what their family ties can teach us. (University of California Press via JTA)
February 6, 2026, 4:28 pm
A new book looks at Jewish law’s relationship with animal family bonds
In ‘What Animals Teach Us About Families,’ Prof. Beth Berkowitz of Barnard College delves into commandments involving mother birds, baby goats – and ethics, if not empathy
By Andrew Silow-Carroll
Illustration of a rendering of slab 28 of the Southwest Palace in Nineveh (modern Mosul), Iraq, showing a city that research says may be Jerusalem, superimposed on a picture of the slab taken in 1990 by John Russell. (Trustees of the British Museum, John Russell; Illustration by Times of Israel staff)
January 25, 2026, 4:14 pm
Smashed by ISIS, a 2,700-year-old carving may have been the earliest-known depiction of Jerusalem
New research suggests a long-overlooked bas-relief in King Sennacherib’s palace in modern-day Mosul, Iraq, destroyed with other priceless artifacts, showed the Temple Mount and Bible’s King Hezekiah
By Rossella Tercatin
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks in his study in an undated photo (Koren Publishers)
September 1, 2025, 4:52 am
Posthumous Bible commentary by ex-UK chief rabbi seeks to unseat a synagogue staple
‘Ethical insights that apply to people’s everyday lives’: Five years after Jonathan Sacks died suddenly from cancer, Koren Publishers releases commentary culled from his works that it believes sets a new standard
By Zev Stub
Temple Mount Sifting Project archaeologist Mordechai Ehrlich holds a First Temple period clay sealing reading “Yed[a‛]yah (son of) Asayahu” found in July 2025. (Temple Mount Sifting Project)
July 30, 2025, 5:04 pm
Tiny 2,600-year-old clay sealing inscribed with biblical name found in Temple Mount soil
Minuscule artifact discovered at the Jerusalem-based Temple Mount Sifting Project may reference an official who worked for King Josiah and who appears in II Kings and II Chronicles
By Rossella Tercatin
Isaiah Scroll from the IAA's Dead Sea Scrolls collection. (Shai Halevi, Courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority)
June 6, 2025, 4:45 pm
New study revolutionizes Dead Sea Scrolls dating, might rewrite Israel’s history
Trailblazing interdisciplinary system, combining AI and radiocarbon dating, indicates the precious artifacts may have been written decades – or even centuries – earlier than previously believed
By Rossella Tercatin
Rembrandt's Moses with the Ten Commandments,1659, Germaldegalerie, Staatliche Museen, Berlin (photo credit: Google Art Poject / Wikipedia Commons)
June 6, 2025, 8:10 am
Who wrote the Bible? A pioneering new algorithm may shatter scholarly certitude
Breakthrough method analyzes word distribution to clarify origins of biblical passages — including disputed stories in Genesis, Samuel and Esther
By Rossella Tercatin
The Codex Sassoon, the world’s oldest nearly complete Hebrew Bible, on permanent display for the first time at ANU Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv in May 2025. (Rossella Tercatin/Times of Israel)
May 30, 2025, 4:32 am
Codex Sassoon, oldest near-complete Hebrew Bible, displayed in Israel after Oct. 7 delay
In time for Shavuot, the country also welcomes another centuries-old unique manuscript, the Shem Tov Bible, which too was once part of David Solomon Sassoon’s collection
By Rossella Tercatin
The 'Natan-Melech/Eved Hamelech' bulla found in the City of David. (Eliyahu Yanai/City of David)
May 13, 2025, 10:15 am
Ancient Israelites were more worldly than their insular Judean cousins, study shows
Using statistical methods from field of ecological biodiversity, Israeli scholars analyze 1,000 First Temple period names and find that the northern state was likely more ‘cosmopolitan’
By Rossella Tercatin
Dr. Doron Yaakov, head of the Jewish Oral Traditions collection at the Academy of Hebrew Language and researcher at the Historical Dictionary Project, at the Cultural and Educational Center on March 24, 2025. (Rossella Tercatin/Times of Israel)
April 15, 2025, 7:18 am
Research center works to save myriad Hebrew dialects shaped by millennia of wandering
Israel’s Academy of the Hebrew Language has been preserving a treasure trove of accents and pronunciations that are swiftly becoming lost by its own work to standardize language
By Rossella Tercatin
Archaeologists excavating at Megiddo in northern Israel in 2022. (Courtesy: The Megiddo Expedition)
March 30, 2025, 9:10 am
Archaeologists find first evidence of epic biblical battle at ‘Armageddon’
Pottery excavated at Megiddo in northern Israel suggests a military presence, possibly confirms the battle between King Josiah and Pharaoh Necho, and hints at Gog and Magog narrative
By Rossella Tercatin
Sharon Liberman Mintz, Sotheby's Judaica Specialist, Books & Manuscripts, discusses the purported oldest complete tablet of the Ten Commandments, that is displayed at Sotheby's, in New York, December 9, 2024. (AP/Richard Drew)
December 13, 2024, 11:56 am
As ‘oldest’ Ten Commandments go up for auction, some scholars question authenticity
Stone tablet bearing Paleo-Hebrew inscription with Samaritan version of Biblical text — expected to fetch more than $1 million — open to questioning, NYT reports
By ToI Staff
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