Bible Interpretation

Bible Interpretation Latest

Mar 7 Blog

The Creation of Woman in the Bible

By: Megan Sauter

How was the first woman created in Genesis 2? Was she made from the man’s rib or, as recently suggested in BAR, from his os baculum?

Mar 5 Blog

Mary, Simeon or Anna: Who First Recognized Jesus as Messiah?

By: Ben Witherington III

Who was the first person to truly recognize Jesus as the messiah and understand the implications? Biblical scholar Ben Witherington III takes a close look at the account given in Luke, and sheds some light on what the Biblical narrative has to say about who was the first to recognize Jesus as the messiah.

Feb 24 Blog

Ancient Pergamon

By: Sarah Yeomans

Ancient Pergamon's strategic location along both land and sea trading routes contributed to its prosperity. Pilgrims from all over the Mediterranean region would flock to the city to engage in commerce or to visit the famous Asclepion, a center of medical treatments.

Feb 17 Blog

Christmas Stories in Christian Apocrypha

By: Tony Burke

The modern Christmas nativity scene is drawn from apocryphal texts in addition to the infancy narratives of Matthew and Luke.

Feb 14 Blog

Love Your Neighbor: Only Israelites or Everyone?

By: Richard Elliott Friedman

The Book of Leviticus tells us to love our neighbors, but who are our neighbors? Does the command mean to just love fellow Israelites—or everyone?

Feb 12 Blog

Mark and John: A Wedding at Cana—Whose and Where?

By: James Tabor

James Tabor discusses the wedding at Cana from the Gospels of Mark and John. Whose wedding was this and why were Jesus and his family present?

Feb 1 Blog

Who Was the Wife of Cain?

By: BAS Staff

Who did Cain marry? Where did she come from? Mary Joan Winn Leith suggests that while the Israelite storyteller knew that other men and women in Genesis existed outside of Eden, they did not matter to him or factor into his account. He was concerned with Adam and Eve and their progeny—not those outside of this group.

Jan 29 Blog

Solomon, Socrates and Aristotle

By: Theodore Feder

A wall painting found in the House of the Physician in Pompeii contains the earliest known depiction of a Biblical scene. Two onlookers in the crowd appear to be the Greek philosophers Socrates and Aristotle, according to author Theodore Feder. What do the onlookers reveal about the place of Biblical culture in the Greco-Roman world?

Jan 29 Blog

James or Jacob in the Bible?

By: Mark Wilson

How did the Jewish name Ya’akov, properly translated as Jacob, become James in English versions of the Bible?

Jan 25 Blog

Jesus Was a Refugee

By: Joan E. Taylor

Scholar Joan E. Taylor says that it’s worth remembering that Jesus’ earliest years were, according to the Gospel of Matthew, spent as a refugee in a foreign land.

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