Where Is the Aramaic Bible at Qumran? Scripture Use in the Land of Israel

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The documents at Qumran allow us to reconstruct Scripture access in the Province of Judea in the first century. From the evidence, we must assume that the Qumran community and the other Jewish communities in the land had direct access to the Hebrew Bible, generally understood it, and were interested in teaching that related directly to the Hebrew text.

Leah’s Tender Eyes

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The King James Version translates Genesis 29:17 as follows: “Leah was tender eyed; but Rachel was beautiful and well favoured.” The New International Version has, “Leah had weak eyes,” while the New American Bible reads, “Leah had lovely eyes.” What did the Hebrew original mean to say?

Deliver Us From Evil

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Just as good poetry can convey multiple allusions, so “Deliver us from evil” can carry a variety of notions of protection from doing and experiencing evil.

The “Desert” of Bethsaida

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The Feeding of the Five Thousand could not have taken place, as some English translations suggest, in a “desert place” because the text tells us there were villages nearby. By analyzing the meaning of the word translated “desert,” the topography at the scene of this miracle can be clarified.

Gergesa: Site of the Demoniac’s Healing

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The recent discovery of many of the ancient harbors that ringed the Sea of Galilee is an exciting chapter in Sea of Galilee research. One of these harbors is located at Kursi, ancient Gergesa. In this article, Mendel Nun contends that the demoniac’s healing and the miracle of the swine took place at Gergesa, not Gadara or Gerasa.

Matthew 16:18: The Petros-petra Wordplay—Greek, Aramaic, or Hebrew?

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The pinnacle of the gospel story may be Jesus’ dramatic statement, “You are Petros and on this petra I will build my church.” The saying seems to contain an obvious Greek wordplay, indicating that Jesus spoke in Greek. However, it is possible that “Petros…petra” is a Hebrew wordplay.

That Small-fry Herod Antipas, or When a Fox Is Not a Fox

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We need to start translating “fox” with its proper Hebraic cultural meaning.

Pieces to the Synoptic Puzzle: Papias and Luke 1:1-4

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Despite a rather turbulent transmission process, the Synoptic Gospels retain an astonishing amount of authentic and reliable material.

Literary Languages in the Time of Jesus

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Not only was Hebrew the most prevalent spoken language in the land of Israel during the first century, it was also the language in which most literary works were written.

Spoken Languages in the Time of Jesus

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Professor Safrai presents an overview of the three languages used in the land of Israel during the days of Jesus, and concludes that Hebrew was the primary language spoken by the Jewish residents at that time.

If King David were alive today, could he communicate with Israel’s president?

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How hard would it be for a speaker of modern Hebrew to understand someone speaking Biblical Hebrew? If King David returned, would he be able to understand the president of the State of Israel, and would the president be able to understand him? Would Jesus be able to communicate with modern Israelis?

The New Testament in Modern Hebrew

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In this series Dr. Ray Pritz, head of the Bible Society in Israel, describes the challenges faced by the Society’s translation committee in rendering the synoptic Gospels into modern Hebrew, and some of the solutions it found.

Hebrew Nuggets, Lesson 24: Messiah (Part 2)

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Athough the concept of Messiah is importance both in Judaism and Christianity, the Hebrew word מָשִׁיחַ (maSHIaḥ, messiah) was not often used in Jesus’ day. Jesus and his contemporaries rarely spoke of the Messiah by that name, but preferred to use other more oblique terms. In the New Testament, maSHIaḥ almost always appears in its Greek translation: χριστός (christos, anointed with oil; Christ). The Greek transliteration μεσσίας (messias) appears only twice, in John 1:41 and 4:25.