The articles are arranged under three categories: The Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament, Jewish and Christian Apocalyptic, and Ancient Judaism and Christianity.
Reflecting on David Flusser’s Vision
A Short Response to Steven Notley’s “Let the One Who Has Ears to Hear”
(The same phrase may relate conceptually as well to Matthew 6:25-34.)
Character Profile: A New Portrait of Salome
Salome’s image has been obscured and marred due to the personas created for her by writers of the past 150 years. Salome is famous for the part she played in the execution of John the Baptist.
Parables and Foundations
(Mishnah, Avot 3:18)
Bedrock and Sand
Jesus’ parable in Matthew 7:24-27 presents this theme in much the same way:
A person who hears these words of mine and does them, what is he like?
A New Two-source Solution to the Synoptic Problem
Despite the continuing debate between Matthean and Markan priorists, some form of the widely-accepted Two-Source Hypothesis seems necessary for a proper understanding of the synoptic relationships. The Two-Source Hypothesis as generally conceived, however, cannot cover the evidence of dependence and interdependence found in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke.
Private: Have You Heard?
Two new sections are already under way: the Tower Builder and King Going to War Similes (Luke 14:28-32) and Not Everyone Can Be Yeshua’s Disciple (Matt. 8:19-22; Luke 9:57-62).
The Messianic Consciousness of Jesus: Lesson 09
Lesson Nine deals with Jesus’ riddle about the Messiah and David’s Son (Matt. 22:41-46; Mark 12:35-37; Luke 20:41-44) and the Healing of the Paralyzed Man story (Matt. 9:1-8; Mark 2:1-12; Luke 5:17-26).
Fathers Give Good Gifts Simile
Matt. 7:9-11; Luke 11:11-13 (Huck 38, 148; Aland 70, 187; Crook 53, 212)For abbreviations and bibliographical references, see “Introduction to ‘The Life of Yeshua: A Suggested Reconstruction.'”… although the author of Matthew omitted Friend in Need’s illustration, he preserved Friend in Need’s application (Matt. 7:7-8 ∥ Luke 11:9-10) and immediately afterward copied Fathers Give Good Gifts (Matt. 7:9-11 ∥ Luke 11:11-13).
“Four Types of Hearers” complex
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An Almost Unknown Hanina ben Dosa Story and Jesus: Exemplars of First-century Galilean Hasidic Judaism
Some time ago, I happened upon an amazing story about the miracle-worker Hanina ben Dosa that is almost unknown and sheds new light on the Jewish background of the Christian gospels. In the last 50 years or so, Gospel scholars, particularly Jewish scholars, have increasingly seen the importance of Jesus’ Jewish origins and his Galilean roots. Further, they have come to understand that Jesus was part of a Galilean branch of Judaism that was more rural and relaxed, and distinctively hasidic (pietistic).See Safrai, “Jesus and the Hasidim.”
The Traveling Teacher
We hear in Matthew 8:19 of another man who was warned by Jesus of the price he would have to pay after he perhaps too quickly and easily blurted out, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go!”
Character Profile: Who Was John Mark?
This essay was originally composed as a companion to Robert Lindsey’s article “My Search for the Synoptic Problem’s Solution (1959-1969).”
The Lord’s Prayer 6: “Thy Will Be Done”
“Let It Be Done”
The key to understanding this petition in Matthew 6:10 is the Greek word γενηθήτω (genēthetō), translated “be done.” … Therefore hōs may be a scribal addition due to the influence of “as we also have forgiven” in Matthew 6:12.
Teaching with Authority: The Development of Jesus’ Portrayal as a Teacher within the Synoptic Tradition
Matt. 7:28f.) it is significant that, according to the original version, the event took place toward the beginning of Jesus’ public career, on the first occasion when Jesus is reported to have taught on the Sabbath in a synagogue.