the exodus

the exodus Latest

Stela from El-Amarna, Egyptian King Akhenaten is seen with his wife Nefertiti and their daughters bearing offerings to the sun-disk Aten.

Feb 24 Blog

Akhenaten and Moses

Pharaoh Akhenaten, who abolished the Egyptian pantheon and instituted worship of a single deity, the sun-disk Aten, in the mid-14th century B.C., may have established the world’s first monotheism. Did this influence the birth of Israelite monotheism?

Moses, pictured here in a painting by 17th-century Baroque artist Guido Reni. Alinari/Art Resource, NY.

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?

Illustration of left handed Benjamite slinger. Drawing by Josh Seevers, courtesy of Boyd Seevers

Feb 12 Blog

Left-Handed People in the Bible

By: BAS Staff

Were the warriors from the tribe of Benjamin left-handed by nature or nurture?

Cropped illustration shows Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Photo: From Charles Foster, The Story of the Bible (1897)

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 3 Blog

Water from a Walking Rock

By: Megan Sauter

What does Paul mean in the Bible when he says that the Israelites drank “from the spiritual rock that followed them” during their wanderings in the wilderness?

Dec 14 Blog

Locating Zoar

By: BAS Staff

Read Master’s College professor Bill Schlegel’s commentary on the location of Zoar along with Steven Collins’s response.

Late-15th-century painting of The Last Supper by the Spanish artist known as the Master of Perea.

Nov 2 Blog

Was Jesus’ Last Supper a Seder?

By: Jonathan Klawans

Many assume that Jesus' Last Supper was a Seder, the ritual Passover meal. Examine evidence from the synoptic Gospels with scholar Jonathan Klawans.

Oct 21 Blog

The Exodus: Fact or Fiction?

By: BAS Staff

Does archaeological evidence connect with Israel’s Exodus from Egypt—a central event in the Bible? Egyptian artifacts and sites show that the Biblical text does indeed recount accurate memories from the period to which the Exodus is generally assigned.

Photo of Torah Scroll. Photo: “Open Torah and Pointer” by Lawrie Cate is licensed under CC-by-SA-2.0

Oct 9 Blog

What Does the Bible Say About Tattoos?

By: Megan Sauter

Although Leviticus 19:28 clearly prohibits tattoos, it does not give an explicit reason why. This begs the question: Why does the Bible prohibit tattoos?

Bowl decorated with recumbent lions and calves before the symbol of the god An (BLMJ 4564). Photo: David Harris

Oct 9 Blog

10 Great Biblical Artifacts at the Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem

By: David Moster

10 The Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem houses one of the world’s most important collections of Biblical artifacts.

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